Particle.news
Download on the App Store
28 ARTICLES
·
last wk.

NASA, SpaceX Bring Crew-11 Home Early in First ISS Medical Evacuation

The early return followed a stable health concern that required diagnostics and care unavailable on the station.

CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES - JANUARY 15: (----EDITORIAL USE ONLY - MANDATORY CREDIT - 'NASA / BILL INGALLS / HANDOUT' - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS----) Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov (L), NASA astronauts Mike Fincke, Zena Cardman, and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui are seen inside the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft onboard the SpaceX recovery ship SHANNON shortly after having landed in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Long Beach, California on January 15, 2026. Cardman, Fincke, Yui, Platonov returned after 167 days in space as part of Expedition 74 aboard the International Space Station. (Photo by NASA/Bill Ingalls/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Image
The International Space Station has gone from seven crew members down to a "skeleton crew" of three due to a recent medical evacuation.
© GCTC via NASA

Overview

  • SpaceX’s Dragon Endeavour splashed down off San Diego at 3:41 a.m. ET on Jan. 15 after a Jan. 14 undocking, with recovery teams transporting all four astronauts to a local hospital before heading to Johnson Space Center.
  • The returning Crew-11 members were Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke of NASA, Kimiya Yui of JAXA, and Oleg Platonov of Roscosmos, and officials said they were in good spirits after landing.
  • NASA said one crew member has a medical issue and remains stable, declined to identify the astronaut or provide details for privacy, and emphasized the situation did not require an immediate emergency return from orbit.
  • The return marked the first controlled medical evacuation in the ISS’s roughly 25-year history, concluding a 167-day mission that logged more than 140 science experiments and nearly 71 million miles traveled.
  • The station is operating with three crew — NASA’s Chris Williams and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergey Mikaev — as NASA evaluates moving up the Crew-12 launch to restore full staffing and pauses nonessential science and spacewalks.