On Friday, the fourth NASA long-duration astronaut crew that SpaceX had deployed to the International Space Station (ISS) began their journey back to Earth, capping a nearly six-month science mission.
At 12:05 p.m. EDT (16:05 GMT), the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft carrying three NASA astronauts from the United States and an Italian crewmate from the European Space Agency separated from the International Space Station to begin a nearly five-hour return journey.
A NASA livestream of the undocking displayed live video of the capsule drifting away from the station as the two vehicles flew high over the North Atlantic.
The four astronauts were spotted strapped into the crew compartment wearing helmeted white and black spacesuits just before the spacecraft detached from the station, hovering roughly 250 miles (400 km) above Earth.
The capsule was then autonomously moved safely away from the ISS and its orbit was decreased to prepare it for a subsequent atmospheric re-entry and splashdown.
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