The third long-duration team of astronauts launched by SpaceX to the International Space Station (ISS) for NASA safely departed the orbiting outpost on Thursday to begin their descent back to Earth, capping a six-month long science mission.

The SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule carrying three U.S. NASA astronauts and a German astronaut from the European Space Agency undocked from the ISS shortly after 1 a.m. EDT (0500 GMT) to embark on a return flight expected to last about 23 hours.