SpaceX Crew-5 Departs Station

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SpaceX's Crew-5 mission has officially departed the International Space Station (ISS) after a six-month stay. The four astronauts aboard the Crew Dragon spacecraft undocked from the orbiting laboratory at 7:35 p.m. EDT (2335 GMT) on Saturday (May 1) and began their journey back to Earth.

The Crew-5 mission, which launched on Nov. 15, 2020, was the first operational mission of SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft. The mission was also the first to use a previously flown spacecraft, as the Crew Dragon Endeavour had previously flown the Demo-2 mission in May 2020.

The four astronauts aboard the Crew Dragon Endeavour — NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, and European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Thomas Pesquet — spent the past six months conducting science experiments and performing maintenance tasks aboard the ISS.

The Crew-5 mission is expected to splash down in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Panama City, Florida, at approximately 2:56 a.m. EDT (0656 GMT) on Sunday (May 2).