Northrop Grumman Cygnus departs from Space Station

Northrop Grumman's uncrewed Cygnus spacecraft departed the International Space Station on Saturday. The departure came more than three months after delivering nearly 8,000 pounds of supplies, scientific investigations, commercial products, hardware, and other cargo to the orbiting laboratory.

Flight controllers on the ground commanded the space station's Canadarm2 robotic arm to detach Cygnus from the Unity module's Earth-facing port. Then, the arm maneuvered the spacecraft into position and released it at 11:01 a.m. eastern time.

After departure, the Kentucky Re-Entry Probe Experiment (KREPE) stowed inside Cygnus took measurements to demonstrate a thermal protection system for spacecraft and their contents during re-entry in Earth's atmosphere. Cygnus will de-orbit on Dec. 15.