spacetoday.net: Dragon departs ISS, returns to Earth

Posted: Mon, Oct 27, 2014, 8:20 AM ET (1220 GMT)
Dragon before CRS-4 splashdown (SpaceX)

A commercial cargo spacecraft departed from the International Space Station on Saturday morning and splashed down in the Pacific Ocean several hours later. The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, on the SpX-4 mission to the ISS, was unberthed from the ISS and released by the station's robotic arm at 9:57 am EDT (1357 GMT) Saturday. The spacecraft reentered the atmosphere and splashed down in the Pacific off the coast of Baja California at 3:39 pm EDT (1939 GMT). Dragon brought back scientific experiments and other equipment from the station. Dragon's departure clears the way for the launch on Monday evening of a Cygnus cargo spacecraft on an Antares rocket from Virginia. That spacecraft will berth with the station on November 2.