NASA, SpaceX target Saturday for first crew mission return

WASHINGTON, April 29 (Xinhua) -- NASA and SpaceX are targeting Saturday for the return of their first crew mission from the International Space Station (ISS).

The Crew-1 mission, which consists of NASA astronauts Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, and Shannon Walker, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Soichi Noguchi, is scheduled to undock from the ISS at 5:55 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) Friday, to begin the journey home.

The crew members are expected to be back to Earth at 11:36 a.m. EDT Saturday, in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida.

The Crew Dragon will undock autonomously and depart from the ISS with the capability to splashdown at one of seven targeted landing zones in the Atlantic Ocean or Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida, according to NASA.

Crew-1 is the first of six crewed missions NASA and SpaceX will fly as part of the agency's Commercial Crew Program, which worked with the U.S. aerospace industry to return launches with astronauts on American rockets and spacecraft from American soil.