Washington (AFP) - The first entirely private mission to the International Space Station has left this laboratory after more than two weeks, heading for Earth.
The SpaceX capsule separated from the space station Sunday at 21:10 EST (01:10 GMT Monday) to begin its return journey. It is supposed to land off the coast of Florida, Monday, at around 13:00 (17:00 GMT).

The trip, which includes three businessmen, the American Larry Connor, the Canadian Mark Bathy and the Israeli Eitan Stebe, each of whom paid tens of millions of dollars, in addition to Michael Lopez-Alegria, a former NASA astronaut who previously participated in missions to the International Space Station, took off in April 8 from Florida and arrived the next day at the International Space Station.

Their journey was supposed to take no more than eight days, but their return was postponed several times due to bad weather.

They conducted a series of experiments at the station, in partnership with research centers on the ground, focusing on several topics, including stem cells and heart health. Another research focused on the vehicle's self-control in the event of zero gravity, according to a NASA blog, quoting a station publication.
Canadian Marc Bathe also spent a lot of time in the famous observation dome of the International Space Station, in order to photograph the Earth.
This mission was called Ax-1 and Axiom Space was behind this initiative, as it bought the transport from SpaceX and paid NASA for the use of its station.
NASA, which is funding the station's stay, has officially approved the second Ax-2 mission.
After the departure of the members of the Ax-1 mission, seven people remain on the station, three Americans, one German and three Russians.