SpaceX capsule departs station with 4 astronauts, heads home

A SpaceX capsule carrying four astronauts departed the International Space Station late Saturday, aiming for a rare nighttime splashdown to end the company's second crew flight.

Cape Canaveral: NASA's SpaceX Crew-1 undocked from the International Space Station on Saturday, beginning its descent back to earth.

The crew will attempt the first U.S. splashdown of returning astronauts in darkness since the Apollo 8 moonshot in 1968.

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Elon Musk’s company is targeting the predawn hours of Sunday to bring back three NASA astronauts and one from Japan, after dangerously high wind scuttled a pair of earlier attempts.

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The astronauts - only the second crew to fly SpaceX - will depart the International Space Station on Saturday night aboard the SpaceX Dragon capsule that carried them up last November, and will aim for a splashdown 6 1/2 hours later in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Panama City, Florida.

AP