If all goes according to plan, the private SpaceX Dragon spacecraft will return to Earth this weekend. The unmanned capsule, which was built in California, is scheduled to undock from the International Space Station at 7:55 a.m. on Sunday according to CNN.
SpaceX will then be released from the space station by a large robotic arm 90 minutes later, and should land back on earth at around 3:20 p.m. Experts have estimated that SpaceX will land in the Pacific Ocean near California.
Click here on Sunday to watch the live stream of Dragon returning to earth.
The capsule is named after the firm SpaceX which sponsored the entire mission.
"In California, SpaceX crew have already headed to the Pacific Ocean splashdown zone to await Dragon's arrival, while at the station, Expedition 33 crew members are readying Dragon's return cargo, including biological samples that have been stored in the station's freezers since the retirement of the space shuttle," SpaceX officials wrote in a mission update on Friday.
The trip is already being considered a success considering SpaceX launched on Oct. 7 and arrived just three days later with 882 pounds of supplies and scientific experiments. The spacecraft will be bringing back over 1,673 pounds of cargo and scientific research gear to Earth according to NBC.
Dragon will be making a second mission this January which will be the third time the spacecraft has visited the International Space Station after making a demonstration mission this past spring.
SpaceX is also working hard to build manned versions of the Dragon, hoping that if they can they will be able to work out a deal with NASA to send astronauts to and from the space station using it.
NASA is looking for more American companies such similar to SpaceX to fill the void left by the retirement of the space shuttle fleet back in 2011. The agency has also announced the signing of a deal with a Virginia-based firm called Orbital Sciences Corp.
The firm will sponsor eight unmanned supply flights with its Antares rocket and Cygnus spacecraft according to NBC.
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