SpaceX ship leaves ISS for Earth loaded with lab results

The unmanned Dragon spacecraft carries back loads of materials, including results from experiments conducted on the International Space Station

SPACEX DRAGON. This NASA TV image shows the SpaceX Dragon private space freighter as it approaches the International Space Station on September 23, 2014. AFP PHOTO/NASA TV/HANDOUT

WASHINGTON DC, USA SpaceX's unmanned Dragon spacecraft left the International Space Station to return to Earth on Saturday, October 25, after a month in orbit, NASA said.

Astronauts at the orbiting lab manipulated the space station's robotic arm to detach the Dragon on time, at 9:57 am (1357 GMT or 9:57 pm Philippine time), in what the US space agency called a "very clean release."

The capsule was set to splash down 5 and a half hours later in the Pacific Ocean, near the Mexican coast, slowed by 3 enormous parachutes.

The unmanned craft, which has been docked in orbit since September 23, will be carrying back some 3,800 pounds (1,700 kilograms) of materials, including results from experiments conducted on the space station.

The SpaceX vessel is the only spacecraft currently capable of returning with cargo. Its last mission to ISS was in April. (READ: SpaceX supply capsule berths at ISS)

It had delivered more than 5,000 pounds (2,200 kilograms) of cargo, including freeze-dried meals, 20 live lab mice and a 3D printer, in its fourth contracted mission to the orbiting lab.

The lab mice are the first live mammals to hitch a ride aboard a commercial cargo ship, and they are enclosed in a NASA-made research cage for studying the effects of weightlessness on their bodies.

The 3-D printer is the first of its kind to demonstrate how the technology can be used in space, even without gravity to assist the process.

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SpaceX ship leaves ISS for Earth loaded with lab results