Video: NASA officials preview space station battery replacement spacewalks

Astronaut Mark Vande Hei and Japanese crewmate Norishige Kanai floated outside the International Space Station Friday, repositioned two robot arm grapple mechanisms following repair work last month and carried out a variety of “get-ahead” tasks before calling it a day.

After 24 days at the International Space Station, SpaceX’s Dragon supply ship came back to Earth on Sunday with more than 5,400 pounds of cargo, human and animal research specimens, and other gear tagged for the trip home. Release from the station’s robotic arm occurred at 5:11 a.m. EDT (0911 GMT), and splashdown in the Pacific Ocean was a few minutes before 11 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT).

The 10th dedicated cargo delivery mission by SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, and the first to liftoff from launch pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, will carry more than 5,000 pounds of equipment to the International Space Station.