Cygnus cargo spacecraft leaves International Space Station to re-enter Earth's atmosphere

A private cargo spacecraft left the International Space Station this morning (July 12).

Northrop Grumman's Cygnus spacecraft undocked from the International Space Station today at 7:01 a.m. EDT (1101 GMT), while the space station was over the South Atlantic Ocean, ending a 5.5-month orbital stay.

This Cygnus spacecraft — named the SS Patricia “Patty” Hilliard Robertson, after the NASA astronaut who died in a 2001 plane crash — launched atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on Jan. 30. The launch marked the start of the NG-20 mission, so named because it was the 20th Cygnus mission to the International Space Station for NASA.