WASHINGTON — A SpaceX capsule carrying four people detached from the International Space Station on Wednesday, marking the first medical evacuation in the station’s history. NASA shortened the mission by more than a month due to a crew member's private health issue.
The Endeavour capsule left the space station at 5:20 p.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday. The capsule is scheduled to land in the Pacific Ocean off the California coast at 3:41 a.m. Thursday. Recovery teams will be waiting to pick up the crew as soon as they splash down.
According to Space.com, NASA ended the mission after the medical issue worsened. The agency first identified the health problem in early January and canceled a spacewalk scheduled for Jan. 8. While NASA has not shared details about the illness or the crew member’s name, the situation was serious enough to bring the entire crew home early.
The Crew-11 members are Zena Cardman, Mike Fincke, Kimiya Yui, and Russian astronaut Oleg Platonov. The group had been living and working aboard the station since August 1, 2025.
Before the crew departed on Wednesday, NASA astronaut Mike Fincke officially handed over command of the International Space Station to Sergey Kud-Sverchov. Fincke's departure leaves a three-person crew to run the station: Kud-Sverchov, Sergei Mikaev, and Chris Williams.
The station will continue to operate with this smaller team until the SpaceX Crew-12 mission, which is expected to launch as early as Feb. 15. The early return marks a rare disruption for the station, which usually operates on a strict six-month schedule.
