Four-astronaut team departs International Space Station on flight back to Earth

The third long-duration team of astronauts launched by SpaceX to the International Space Station (ISS) for NASA departed the orbiting outpost early on Thursday to begin their descent back to Earth, capping a six-month science mission.

The SpaceX Crew



Dragon capsule carrying three US NASA astronauts and a German astronaut from the European Space Agency undocked from the ISS shortly after 1 a.m. EDT (0500 GMT) to embark on a return flight expected to last less than 24 hours.