After a medical evacuation from space, NASA's Crew-11 returns to Earth a month early

"Four people on NASA's Crew-11 mission successfully splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off San Diego in their SpaceX Dragon capsule after a nearly 10-hour journey from the International Space Station, completing the first medical evacuation from the orbiting lab. The crew undocked from the station Wednesday at 5:20 p.m. EST as the ISS and capsule flew 260 miles south of Australia. The splashdown at 3:41 a.m. EST Thursday beneath a canopy of parachutes marks the end of the Crew-11 mission, which was cut short by about a month."

"It's the first time in NASA's history that a medical issue prompted an early end to a space mission. It's also the first medical evacuation in over a quarter-century of continuous human presence on the space station. NASA has not disclosed the name of the astronaut or the medical issue due to health privacy. The decision to bring home the crew of NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Kimiya Yui and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov was made last week."

"Their mission began on Aug. 1, 2025 with a launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Since then, the crew has spent a total of 167 days in space and 165 days on board the space station, logging 2,672 orbits of the Earth their journey tallying 70.8 million statute miles."

Four Crew-11 members splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off San Diego in a SpaceX Dragon capsule after a nearly 10-hour journey from the International Space Station. The capsule undocked Wednesday at 5:20 p.m. EST while the ISS and capsule flew 260 miles south of Australia. The parachute-assisted splashdown occurred at 3:41 a.m. EST Thursday, ending a mission cut short by about a month. NASA conducted its first medical evacuation from the space station after one astronaut developed a serious but stable condition; the astronaut's identity and medical details remain private. The crew launched Aug. 1, 2025, spent 167 days in space, logged 2,672 orbits and 70.8 million statute miles. Three crew members now remain aboard the station.

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