Cygnus XL departs ISS after first cargo mission, heading for fiery re-entry
Northrop Grumman's Cygnus XL cargo spacecraft — the S.S. Willie "Willie" McCool — left the International Space Station on March 12, after a nearly six-month stay delivering about 11,000 pounds of science gear and supplies. Detaching from Unity, Canadarm2 released Cygnus at 7:06 a.m. EST, and the freighter will deorbit to burn up in Earth’s atmosphere, joining the ISS cargo fleet alongside SpaceX’s Dragon, Russia’s Progress, and JAXA’s HTV-X.