Drone’s view of Sunday’s SpaceX rocket landing

Astronauts on the International Space Station are eager to begin unpacking 2.6 tons of supplies and experiments — including a package of belated Christmas gifts — after delivery aboard a SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule Monday.

With one last task to carry out, a space station Cygnus cargo ship loaded with trash and no-longer-needed equipment fell back to Earth Wednesday, hitting the discernible atmosphere 60 miles or so above the Pacific Ocean at nearly 5 miles per second.

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket took off from Cape Canaveral on Friday afternoon, sending a Dragon cargo freighter on the way to the International Space Station as the launcher’s first stage booster returned to Earth aboard a floating platform.