A commercial cargo ship ended its five-week stay at the International Space Station this week, according to the Associated Press.
NASA astronaut Michael Hopkins used the IIS' large robot arm to release the Cygnus capsule today, Feb. 18, as it sailed approximately 260 miles above the South Atlantic.
The capsule is filled with garbage and will burn up on Feb. 19 when it falls through the atmosphere over the Pacific, according to AP.
Cygnus was launched by Orbital Sciences Corp. on Jan. 9 from Virginia as part of a $1.9 billion contract with NASA.
The cargo ship helped deliver 2,780 lbs of goods, including belated Christmas gifts for the crew that arrived late due to a cooling system issue that occurred in December.
Hundreds of ants were also delivered for a "student experiment," according to AP.
The ants are currently aboard the space station, and they'll return to Earth aboard a future cargo ship, called the SpaceX Dragon.
SpaceX is set to launch its next Dragon from Cape Canaveral on March 16 with supplies for the six-person crew.
Cygnus also delivered crew provisions, spare parts, and other key hardware, according to AP.
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