Four astronauts left the International Space Station Wednesday evening, weeks earlier than planned, in a first-of-its-kind departure due to a medical issue. Their journey back to Earth is expected to culminate early Thursday morning with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. NASA astronauts Zena Car dman and Mike Fincke, Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov are returning in the same SpaceX Dragon capsule that they flew to the space station. The group, known as Crew-11, undocked from the orbiting outpost at 5:20 p.m. ET and will spend nearly 11 hours traveling home. “Endeavour Crew, enjoy the ride home,” SpaceX mission controllers radioed to the astronauts, referring to the operational name of the Dragon capsule. The crew’s departure was the first time in the space station’s 25-year history that a mission was cut short because of a medical problem that arose in orbit. NASA officials have not provided details about the affected crew member or the nature of the medical issue, citing medical privacy concerns. The agency has, however, said the situation is stable and not considered an emergency evacuation. NASA Jan 8 NASA cuts space station mission short after an astronaut's medical issue space Jan 12 Astronauts' brains change shape and position after time in space, study finds “First and foremost, we are all OK,” Fincke wrote on LinkedIn over the weekend. “Everyone on board is stable, safe, and well cared for. This was a deliberate decision to allow the right medical evaluations to happen on the ground, where the full range of diagnostic capability exists. It’s the right call, even if it’s a bit bittersweet.” The Crew-11 astronauts are expected to splash down off the coast of California at approximately 3:41 a.m. ET on Thursday. The journey will include a deorbit burn to slow the spacecraft before it plunges through Earth’s atmosphere and lands with parachutes in the water. Cardman, Fincke, Yui and Platonov arrived at the International Space Station in August and were slated to stay until late February. But NASA revealed last week that a crew member had experienced a medical incident while at the orbiting outpost, prompting the agency to call off a spacewalk in which Cardman and Fincke were to perform upgrades to the exterior of the station. Days later, agency officials announced that they would bring the crew home about a month early as a precautionary measure. “After discussions with chief health and medical officer Dr. JD Polk and leadership across the agency, I’ve come to the decision that it’s in the best interest of our astronauts to return Crew-11 ahead of their planned departure,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said Thursday. space Dec 27, 2025 2026 will be the year NASA astronauts fly around the moon again — if all goes to plan NASA Sep 5, 2025 Thousands of newborn stars dazzle in the latest snapshot by NASA's Webb Space Telescope The astronauts are scheduled to land back on Earth before the next space station crew arrives in orbit, though NASA flight engineer Chris Williams and two Russian cosmonauts will remain onboard. NASA officials said they are evaluating options to move up the next launch, a mission known as Crew-12, which is scheduled to lift off no earlier than Feb. 15. But Williams will likely be the only NASA astronaut overseeing U.S. science experiments and operations on the station for several weeks. In a predeparture “change of command” ceremony Monday, Fincke passed his leadership of the space station to cosmonaut Sergey Kud-Sverchkov. “Sergey, it’s a honor and a pleasure to be a commander, and I cannot imagine being happier than to hand over command to you,” Fincke said. He called his crew’s unexpectedly early departure “interesting times,” but spoke fondly about his stay in orbit. “We’re from all over the planet, and we’re working together,” Fincke said. “It’s a great symbol of what human beings can do.” ...read more read less