"A SpaceX capsule transporting four astronauts from the International Space Station (ISS) is due to splash down off the coast of California after ending their mission early due to a medical emergency. The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, known as the Endeavour, began its 10-and-a-half-hour descent from orbit at 22:30 GMT on Wednesday and is due to land on Thursday morning in the Pacific Ocean, according to the United States space agency NASA."
"NASA announced on January 8 that the SpaceX-Crew 11's mission would be ending earlier than planned due to a serious medical condition among one of the crew members. The mission was originally due to end in late February. The agency did not disclose further details, citing crew privacy, but NASA Chief Health and Medical Officer James Polk later said it was not related to space station operations. The medical incident is the first of its kind in NASA's history."
Four astronauts — NASA's Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Russian astronaut Oleg Platonov — cut a 167-day ISS expedition short because one crewmember required serious medical care. The SpaceX Dragon Endeavour undocked and began a 10.5-hour descent at 22:30 GMT, with a planned Pacific Ocean splashdown off California the following morning. The mission formed part of SpaceX Crew-11 and NASA Expedition 74, which began on December 8, and had been scheduled to end in late February. NASA cited crew privacy, stated the medical issue was unrelated to station operations, and identified the incident as unprecedented in agency history.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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