Los Angeles [US], December 23: Northrop Grumman's uncrewed Cygnus spacecraft departed the International Space Station (ISS) on Friday after a four-month mission.
At 8:06 a.m. Eastern Time, the spacecraft was released from a robotic arm which earlier detached Cygnus from the Earth-facing port of the ISS' Unity module, according to NASA.
The Cygnus spacecraft successfully departed the ISS more than four months after arriving at the microgravity laboratory to deliver about 8,200 pounds of supplies, scientific investigations, commercial products, hardware, and other cargo for NASA and its international partners.
Following a deorbit engine firing in early January, Cygnus will begin a planned destructive re-entry, in which the spacecraft, filled with trash packed by the station crew, will safely burn up in Earth's atmosphere, according to NASA.
Cygnus arrived at the ISS on Aug. 4. It was the company's 19th commercial resupply services mission to the space station for NASA.
Source: Xinhua