A SpaceX Dragon cargo ship made its first-ever autonomous undocking from the International Space Station Tuesday (Jan. 12), setting the stage for a return to Earth this week.

"Godspeed, Cargo Dragon and to the recovery team," NASA astronaut Victor Glover said from aboard the space station, where he monitored the spacecraft's departure. .

Related: SpaceX launches upgraded Cargo Dragon to space station for NASA.

It will take about 36 hours for the SpaceX Dragon to return to Earth.

The spacecraft is expected to splash down in the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday (Jan. 13), though NASA and SpaceX will not broadcast the splashdown live.

Previously, all Dragon spacecraft were berthed to the space station using the outpost's robotic Canadarm2, and then they would splash down in the Pacific — far away from the science processing center at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. !

NASA and SpaceX originally planned for the Cargo Dragon to splash down in the Atlantic Ocean, off the eastern coast of Florida, but bad weather at its drop zone prompted a one-day delay!

6 from Launch Complex 39A, arriving at the space station around 24 hours later.

The mission also was the first time that two Dragons were docked to the space station at the same time, as Expedition 64's Crew Dragon remains docked to the orbiting complex to return them to Earth later this year.