The SpaceX/Dragon cargo craft departed the International Space Station Sept. 17, one month after delivering more than three tons of supplies and scientific experiments for the station’s residents. Expedition 53 Flight Engineer Paolo Nespoli of the European Space Agency and station Commander Randy Bresnik used the Cnadarm2 robotic arm to release Dragon after it was detached from the Earth-facing port of the Harmony module. Dragon was scheduled to move to a safe distance away from the station for its engine to conduct a deorbit burn, enabling it to drop out of orit for a parachute-assisted splashdown in the Pacific southwest of Long Beach, California. Dragon was launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center on Aug. 14, arriving at the orbital outpost Aug. 16.
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