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March 1 (UPI) -- Members of NASA's SpaceX Crew-5 said they were anxious to return to Earth next week during a news conference from orbit Wednesday. NASA's press briefing featured NASA astronauts Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada -- the commander and pilot of the crew -- and Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata, who served as a mission specialist alongside Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina.
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Speaking as they are close to departing from the International Space Station, where they have been for more than four months, the crew took questions from the press and social media.
The four will return to Earth aboard the SpaceX Dragon Endurance spacecraft, which will undock from the space station in the coming days before splashing down off the coast of Florida and officially end the fifth leg of the mission.
"Dragon is an incredible space craft. It is definitely next generation," Mann said. "We are thoroughly trained to take over in the case of any emergency scenario.
"But in a nominal situation Dragon is quite capable for all the undocking, the phasing, re-entry and landing. We're looking forward to returning home safely in just over a week."
The astronauts have been living and working in orbit around the Earth since docking with the space station Oct. 6.
Since then, the crew has conducted hundreds of scientific and technological experiments to measure the physiological impact of weightlessness on the human body as mankind begins to look beyond life on Earth.
Cassada recalled witnessing the green auroras over North America on Monday morning, struggling to find words to describe the sight. The crew took timelapse photos of the lights.
"We were giddy when we saw it," Cassada said. "I came down and we just soaked it all in, feeling a little guilty we didn't have the words to describe what we were seeing. It was really remarkable."
"The coolest thing to me was as the sun rose you could still see the northern lights," Mann added.
Wakata, 59, said there is little he needs to do upon returning to Earth as he finishes what will likely be his last space flight. He said he will miss the opportunity to be in space after five flights and has seen the space station greatly evolve over the years.
"The operation has become so much more efficient since I first started to live onboard the space station in 2009," he said. "We are acquiring a variety of data that is going to continue human space exploration not only on the low Earth orbit but on the moon and Mars."
The mission is on the cusp of its sixth rotation, with each new crew of astronauts picking up on experiments where the last team left off.
The Crew-6 launch to the space station was scrubbed at the last minute Monday due to an ignition issue with the mission's Falcon 9 rocket.
The nation's space agency has since rescheduled the launch for 12:34 a.m. EST Thursday from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. A backup launch window is Friday at 12:11 a.m.
At that time, Crew-5 will be relieved by the Crew-6, which comprises NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen and Warren "Woody" Hoburg along with United Arab Emirates astronaut Sultan Alneyadi and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev.
NASA's work aboard the station continues to set the stage for the highly anticipated Artemis mission, which will return astronauts to the moon for the first time in half a century and ultimately pave the way for mankind to reach Mars.
