US spacecraft Dragon 2, which is making a test flight in an unmanned mode, undocked on Friday from the International Space Station (ISS) in an automated regime and is heading for the Earth, NASA stated.
"At 2:32 a.m. EST [07:32 GMT], Crew Dragon undocked from the International Space Station to begin the final phase of its uncrewed Demo-1 flight test. The spacecraft is slowly maneuvering away from the orbital laboratory into an orbital track that will return it and its cargo safely to Earth," NASA said in a statement.
The undocking process was broadcast online by the US space agency.
NASA further noted that the spacecraft "is expected to splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean at about 8:45 a.m., its speed slowed by an enhanced parachute system in which drogue parachutes will deploy about four minutes before landing to unfurl four main chutes less than a minute later. After Crew Dragon lands in the Atlantic Ocean, SpaceX’s recovery ship will recover it and return it to Port Canaveral, Florida to conclude its mission."
The spacecraft will bring to the Earth some 136 kilograms (about 300 pounds) of cargo, including the results of scientific experiments carried out on the orbit.
Dragon 2, also known as Crew Dragon, embarked on its first unmanned test mission to the ISS from NASA's Kennedy Space Center, at 2:49 a.m. EST (07:49 GMT) on Saturday aboard the Falcon 9 rocket. The docking took place on Sunday.
