NATIONWIDE — After almost a week docked with the International Space Station, SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule is close to another milestone in its historic mission.
- Crew Dragon scheduled to undock from ISS overnight Friday
- Historic SpaceX mission was test for future manned missions
- ISS astronauts explored capsule, enjoyed plush toy sent by Musk
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The Crew Dragon is set to undock at 2 a.m. ET Friday and splash down a couple hundred miles off the Atlantic coast a few hours later.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk says re-entry is likely the capsule's biggest test since the launch.
"The re-entry with the asymmetric backshell and then the parachutes will they deploy correctly and then will the system guide Dragon 2 to the right location and splash down safely? I say hypersonic re-entry is probably my biggest concern," Musk said earlier this week.
SpaceX is testing the capsule for potential manned missions — something that hasn't happened in years.
This unmanned test launch lifted off early Saturday from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida with a sensor-equipped human dummy called Ripley, 400 pounds of supplies and experiments, and a plush toy of Earth that Musk added just hours before launch.
Crew Dragon will use four parachutes on its descent back to the Atlantic coast. NASA says undocking is scheduled for 2 a.m. ET Friday, then deorbit burn and splash down at about 7:30 a.m.
Stay with Spectrum News for complete coverage of its return.