Four people are on their way home after a long stay in orbit. NASA's Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, ESA's Sophie Adenot and Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev undocked from the International Space Station at 8:05 a.m. ET Wednesday, NASA said. Their SpaceX Crew Dragon, named Freedom, left the space-facing port of the station's Harmony module on time, and Space.com reported the same 8:05 a.m. departure.

Splashdown in the Pacific off California is set for about 11:34 a.m. ET Thursday. That still hinges on the weather, since times firm up only when NASA and SpaceX agree conditions in the splashdown zone are good enough, Space.com said. Before reentry, Dragon will fire its engines several times to lower its orbit and will drop its trunk, SpaceX said.

How to watch: NASA is carrying audio only during the trip home. Full return coverage starts at 10:20 a.m. ET Thursday, with the deorbit burn around 10:46 a.m. NASA and SpaceX plan a news conference at 1:15 p.m. ET Thursday. ESA Web TV and ESA's YouTube channel will also stream the landing.

The crew stayed longer than planned. Their relief crew, Crew-13, was supposed to launch Sept. 12. A problem with its capsule's propulsion system pushed that back. Crew-13 reached the station on Oct. 1, less than eight hours after launch. That was the fastest trip there for an American spacecraft, Space.com said.

The mission set records. Adenot became the first French woman to walk in space and the second European woman, after Samantha Cristoforetti. She did three spacewalks in 14 days, for 19 hours and 42 minutes outside, ESA said. On Sept. 3 she passed 200 straight days in orbit, a new European record. Meir did four spacewalks, bringing her career total to seven.

Coming home means a fiery ride. Dragon's heat shield faces up to 1,600 degrees Celsius during reentry, ESA said. After pickup, Adenot flies to Cologne, Germany, for checkups at ESA's astronaut center.

Meir has said what she wants first. "What I'm looking forward to most is seeing my three-and-a-half-year-old daughter," she told reporters on Sept. 16.

Next up at the station is SpaceX's CRS-35 cargo flight, targeted for Oct. 13.

Seven people remain on the station, including the four Crew-13 members who arrived Oct. 1, NASA said.

What we know: Dragon undocked on time at 8:05 a.m. ET Wednesday.
What we don't: Whether the weather in the splashdown zone holds for Thursday.