CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A SpaceX capsule carrying four astronauts departed the International Space Station late Saturday, aiming for a rare nighttime splashdown to end the company's second crew flight.

It would be the first U.S. splashdown in darkness since Apollo 8's crew returned from the moon in 1968.

NASA's Mike Hopkins, Victor Glover and Shannon Walker, and Japan's Soichi Noguchi, headed home in the same Dragon capsule that delivered them to the space station last November. The ride back was expected to take just 6 1/2 hours.

"Thanks for your hospitality," Hopkins radioed as the capsu...