SpaceX's Dragon cargo spacecraft all set to leave space station on Sunday!

Photo Credit: NASA

New Delhi: After delivering about 5,500 pounds of cargo, the SpaceX's Dragon cargo spacecraft is all set to leave the International Space Station (ISS) and return to Earth on Sunday, March 19.

As Dragon departs the orbital laboratory with valuable science research on Sunday, NASA Television will provide live coverage of the spacecraft's departure beginning at 4:45 a.m. EDT on NASA Television and the agency’s website.

The spaceship arrived at the space station on February 23 for the company’s 10th NASA-contracted commercial resupply mission.

According to NASA, flight controllers will use the Canadarm2 robotic arm to detach the Dragon capsule, from the Earth-facing side of the station's Harmony module. After they maneuver Dragon into place, Expedition 50 astronauts Thomas Pesquet of ESA (European Space Agency) and Shane Kimbrough of NASA will release it at 5:11 a.m.

As per reports, Dragon’s thrusters will be fired to move the spacecraft a safe distance from the station before SpaceX flight controllers in Hawthorne, California, command its deorbit burn about 10 a.m. The capsule will splash down about 10:54 a.m. in the Pacific Ocean, where recovery forces will retrieve the capsule and its more than 5,400 pounds of cargo.

The cargo will include science samples from human and animal research, external payloads, biology and biotechnology studies, physical science investigations and education activities.