SpaceX Dragon Splashes Down With Four ISS Crew in First Planned Medical Return

Overview

• The Dragon capsule carrying Mike Fincke, Zena Cardman, Kimiya Yui, and Oleg Platonov splashed down off California near San Diego at about 12:45 a.m. local time after roughly 10 hours from undocking to landing.
• NASA described the move as the first controlled, medical-driven early return in the International Space Station’s era of continuous habitation.
• The agency did not identify the affected astronaut or disclose medical details, and the crew was taken to a local hospital for planned evaluation before returning to Johnson Space Center.
• Recovery teams secured the spacecraft at sea and hoisted it onto the recovery ship before the astronauts exited the capsule.
• The health concern had earlier led NASA to cancel a scheduled spacewalk, and Expedition 74 operations continue on the station with three crew members.