Sept. 3 (UPI) — The SpaceX Crew-6 Dragon spacecraft with four astronauts aboard undocked from the International Space Station on Sunday and began to head back to Earth for a splashdown early on Monday.
NASA said the Dragon spacecraft Endeavor is set to come down in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida near Jacksonville at 12:07 a.m. EDT on Monday, less than a week after Hurricane Idalia wrought widespread damage throughout parts of the state.
The Crew-6 astronauts were initially scheduled to depart on Saturday but that was delayed due to the aftermath of Idalia.
The undocking signaled the completion of a six-month science mission for NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen and Woody Hoburg, United Arab Emirates astronaut Sultan Alneyadi and Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, who left the forward-facing port of the International Space Station’s Harmony module at 7:05 a.m. on Sunday.
Watch #Crew6 undock from the @Space_Station to begin their return to Earth. https://t.co/Uxvur2arC8— NASA (@NASA) September 3, 2023
NASA mission controllers determined on Friday that the Endeavour spacecraft remained healthy while docked to the ISS and cleared it for departure and re-entry. Pre-departure checkouts were conducted Friday with normal performance noted across all of its systems.
Operations teams found no constraints to flight and following the weather delay the undocking proceeded without any problems.
The Crew-6 team took part in ISS maintenance, performed research activities and provided technology demonstrations during their stay, according to NASA.
NASA TV will cover the splashdown with a livestream beginning at 11 p.m. EDT on Sunday and continue until the Crew-6 members are recovered.
