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Crew-11 Splashes Down Off San Diego in NASA’s First ISS Medical Evacuation

NASA ordered the controlled return because proper diagnostics are only available on Earth.

Overview

  • SpaceX’s Dragon Endeavour landed at 3:41 a.m. ET in the Pacific after an approximately 11-hour trip from the station.
  • The returning crew comprised NASA’s Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, JAXA’s Kimiya Yui, and RoscosmosOleg Platonov, ending a mission launched in August about a month early.
  • NASA has not identified the affected astronaut, saying the condition is stable, not an emergency, and involves microgravity effects according to chief medical officer Dr. James Polk.
  • Reentry and recovery required no special accommodations, with routine medical checks at sea followed by evaluations at a hospital and later at Johnson Space Center.
  • The ISS now operates with NASA astronaut Chris Williams and Russian cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev, and NASA and SpaceX are assessing whether to advance the mid-February Crew-12 launch.