SpaceX ship returns to Earth loaded with lab results

WASHINGTON: SpaceX´s unmanned Dragon spacecraft left the International Space Station and returned to Earth on Saturday 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), in what the US space agency called a "very clean release."

The capsule splashed down five and a half hours later, at 3:39 (1939 GMT) in the Pacific Ocean, near the Mexican coast, slowed by three enormous parachutes.

The unmanned craft, which has been docked in orbit since September 23, ferried back some 3,200 pounds (1,450 kilograms) of materials, including results from experiments conducted on the space station.