The crew returns during the first medical evacuation from the ISS

Endeavor, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft, separated from the ISS at 5:20 a.m. today (Hanoi time), carrying four astronauts Zena Cardman and Michael Fincke (NASA), Kimiya Yui (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency JAXA), Oleg Platonov (Russian space agency Roscosmos).

About 10.5 hours later, the ship landed safely in the waters off San Diego in the Pacific Ocean with a parachute system supporting it. A specialized recovery ship pulled Endeavor from the sea.

All four Crew-11 crew members smiled, waved and gave a thumbs up to signal that everything was okay as they exited the ship. Astronauts were supported by stretchers before re-acclimatizing to the Earth environment after a long period of living in a microgravity environment. They will also undergo routine medical examinations as is customary.

The Crew-11 crew flew to the ISS on August 1, 2025 and had to return about a month earlier than expected due to a member having health problems. This is the first time in the history of the ISS, which has continuously welcomed rotating crews since November 2000, that a mission was shortened because of the astronaut’s health.

NASA first mentioned the incident on January 7, when it announced the postponement of the spacewalk, which was scheduled to be performed by Cardman and Fincke on January 8. The agency has not revealed the astronaut’s identity or provided details about health problems for reasons of personal information security. According to Jared Isaacman, NASA Director, this person is still in stable condition, but the ISS station does not have the ability to fully diagnose and treat.

During a press conference on January 8, Dr. James Polk, in charge of NASA’s medical and health department, said the astronaut’s problem was not related to the spacewalk or the preparation process for that activity. “This was not an injury that occurred during the course of the mission, but was primarily a medical problem that arose in the difficult conditions of the microgravity environment and our existing equipment set was not sufficient to diagnose it,” Polk explained.

The Crew-11 crew accomplished nearly every mission objective, Isaacman said. Crew-12, consisting of 4 people, is expected to fly to the ISS in mid-February. After Crew-11 leaves and before Crew-12 arrives, the ISS only has three astronauts left working, including Christopher Williams (NASA), Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikayev (Roscosmos). The trio flew to the ISS station on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft on November 27, 2025.