SpaceX Makes History with First Medical Evacuation from ISS

NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov returned to Earth at 12:41 a.m. PST (2:11 pm IST) aboard SpaceX's Dragon capsule.

"Welcome home, Crew-11! At 3:41 am ET (0841 UTC), the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft splashed down off the coast of San Diego, California," NASA said in a post on social media platform X.

"Dragon and NASA's Crew-11 return to Earth, splashing down off the coast of California," added SpaceX.

The astronauts concluded a more than five-month mission aboard the ISS, and their early departure leaves just three -- NASA's Chris Williams, cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev -- on the space station. Another crew of four should arrive next month.

"All four crew members will be transported to a local hospital for additional evaluation, taking advantage of medical resources on Earth to provide the best care possible," NASA said on X.

On January 8, the US space agency postponed its first scheduled spacewalk of 2026 with Mike Fincke and Zena Cardman -- over 'medical concern' with an astronaut.

The space agency, however, has not provided details about the medical issue or the name of the astronaut involved.

"Due to medical privacy, it is not appropriate for NASA to share more details about the crew member. The situation is stable," NASA had shared in a blogpost.

Meanwhile, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman noted that Crew-11's return reflects the strength and capability of the US space programme in safely bringing astronauts back. He also praised the Crew-11 teams for their achievements.

"Crew-11 completed more than 140 science experiments that advance human exploration. Missions like Crew-11 demonstrate the capability inherent in America's space programme -- our ability to bring astronauts home as needed, launch new crews quickly, and continue pushing forward on human spaceflight as we prepare for our historic Artemis II mission, from low Earth orbit to the Moon and ultimately Mars," Isaacman said.

During their 167-day mission, the four crew members traveled nearly 71 million miles and completed more than 2,670 orbits around Earth.

The Crew-11 mission was Fincke's fourth spaceflight, Yui's second, and the first for Cardman and Platonov. Fincke has logged 549 days in space, ranking him fourth among all NASA astronauts for cumulative days in space.

- IANS