Cygnus XL leaves ISS after nearly six-month stay

Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus XL cargo spacecraft left the International Space Station on Friday after the Canadarm2 robotic arm released it at 12:44 p.m. EDT, NASA said. The station was about 260 miles above the Pacific Ocean at the time.

A nearly six-month stay ends

The departure closed a nearly six-month stay at the orbiting laboratory. Cygnus XL had arrived with about 11,000 pounds of supplies, scientific investigations, commercial products, hardware and other cargo for NASA and its international partners.

What happens next

Mission controllers plan to command the spacecraft to deorbit Monday, Oct. 12, according to NASA. Carrying several thousand pounds of disposal items and other unneeded cargo, it is expected to burn up harmlessly during re-entry. NASA does not plan to broadcast the deorbit.