{"id":9642,"date":"2026-01-14T19:09:52","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T11:09:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/nasa-spacex-conduct-medical-evacuation-crew-11-return-to-earth\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T19:09:52","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T11:09:52","slug":"nasa-spacex-conduct-medical-evacuation-crew-11-return-to-earth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/nasa-spacex-conduct-medical-evacuation-crew-11-return-to-earth\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA, SpaceX conduct \u2018medical evacuation\u2019 Crew-11 return to Earth"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_72183\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-72183\" style=\"width: 674px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-72183\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Screenshot-2026-01-14-at-5.20.18-PM.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"674\" height=\"335\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Screenshot-2026-01-14-at-5.20.18-PM.jpg 674w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Screenshot-2026-01-14-at-5.20.18-PM-300x149.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 674px) 100vw, 674px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-72183\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">SpaceX\u2019s Dragon Endeavour spacecraft drifts away from the International Space Station on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, as NASA\u2019s SpaceX Crew-11 mission winds down. Image: NASA via livestream<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><em><strong>Update Jan. 14, 6:30 p.m. EST (2330 UTC): NASA, SpaceX confirm safe undocking of the Dragon Endeavour.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>The SpaceX Crew-11 mission is coming to a close with the crew departing the International Space Station Wednesday evening ahead of a planned splashdown off the coast of California in the predawn hours on Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>At 3:29 p.m. EST (2029 UTC), the hatch to the Dragon Endeavour was officially closed and the crew began final preparations for undocking. Crew-11 commander Zena Cardman, pilot Mike Fincke along with mission specialists Kimiya Yui of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) and Oleg Platonov gave their goodbyes before beginning their journey.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat an adventure we\u2019ve had together,\u201d Fincke said from the Dragon spacecraft. \u201cI think what I\u2019m going to remember most is the camaraderie we\u2019ve had across the planet that\u2019s really symbolic of 25 years of continuous habitation aboard the space station, which is a feat of engineering and a feat of diplomacy. I\u2019m glad we can all work together in space.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This was the first spaceflight for both Platonov and Cardman. The Crew-11 commander gave well wishes to the remaining members of Expedition 74 who are remaining on station before addressing those on the ground.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYour International Space Station is a testament to the power of cooperation, and it\u2019s been an absolute privilege to take part in this endeavor. \u2026 Crew-11 is coming home.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>After final checks were done and preparations completed, the spacecraft separated from the ISS at 5:20 p.m. EST (2220 UTC) to begin a roughly 10.5-hour-long journey home.<\/p>\n<p>Spaceflight Now will have live coverage of the final piece of their return beginning at roughly 2 a.m. EST (0700 UTC) on Jan. 15.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/bzKyD83me48?si=JbDZk8kBqwAN2yH8\" width=\"678\" height=\"381\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Crew-11 launched to the ISS from NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center on Aug. 1 and docked with the space station the following day. They were the final crew to arrive during Expedition 73 and welcomed the Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft, the first new crew of Expedition 74.<\/p>\n<p>They were originally set to stay onboard the ISS until the latter part of February to allow for a direct handover with the incoming SpaceX Crew-12 quartet. However, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said one of the crew members had a \u201cserious medical concern\u201d on Thursday, which prompted agency leaders to decide that the crew should come home earlier than planned for a proper medical diagnosis and treatment.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_72171\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-72171\" style=\"width: 678px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-72171\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/20260114_Crew-11_suited.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"678\" height=\"452\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/20260114_Crew-11_suited.jpeg 678w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/20260114_Crew-11_suited-300x200.jpeg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 678px) 100vw, 678px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-72171\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The four members of the SpaceX Crew-11 mission are shown suited in their intra-vehicular activity (IVA) flight suits ahead of their departure from the International Space Station. From left to right: Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, NASA astronauts Mike Fincke and Zena Cardman, and JAXA astronaut Kimiya Yui. Image: Mike Fincke\/NASA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The early end to the mission was described as a \u201cmedical evacuation\u201d and not an \u201cemergency return,\u201d but this does mark the first time that an American-led human spaceflight mission ends early due to a medical issue.<\/p>\n<p>On Monday, Fincke handed over command of the ISS to Roscomos cosmonaut Sergey Kud-Sverchkov in a brief ceremony. Kud-Sverchkov along with fellow cosmonaut Sergey Mikayev and NASA astronaut Chris Williams will hold down the fort until the arrival of SpaceX Crew-12 sometime in early February.<\/p>\n<p>Fincke posted to his LinkedIn profile, to confirm that NASA made \u201cthe right call, even if it\u2019s a bit bittersweet.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re grateful for the teamwork, proud of the mission, and looking forward to coming home soon\u2014back to our loved ones and to resolving any medical questions with the best care available,\u201d Fincke wrote.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/LK5cGWSbRlg?si=2xEyqQ-qpS_-jpU1\" width=\"678\" height=\"381\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The various members of Crew-11 have spent the week preparing to leave and saying their goodbyes to life in low Earth orbit. In a message posted to his X account (formerly Twitter) Yui shared some photos he captured of Japan as the space station wizzed overhead at about 17,500 miles per hour.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe day has finally arrived for our departure to Earth. I haven\u2019t had a chance to photograph daytime Japan recently, but at the very last moment, we passed over the Pacific side of Japan,\u201d Yui wrote, as translated by X. \u201cMount Fuji bid us farewell, adorned with a touch of crimson makeup from the setting sun. This is my final glimpse of Mount Fuji from space and daytime Japan! Thank you for the magnificent view!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The four members of NASA\u2019s SpaceX Crew-12 mission are officially scheduled to launch Feb. 15. NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway along with European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Sophie Adenot and cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev will spend about nine months onboard the orbiting outpost.<\/p>\n<p>NASA is looking to accelerate the launch date of Crew-12 though, which places it very close to the Artemis 2 Moon mission, the first crewed flight of the Orion spacecraft and the closest approach to the Moon since 1972. The launch of Artemis 2 is tentatively set for Feb. 6, but that will be firmed up in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SpaceX\u2019s Dragon Endeavour spacecraft drifts away from the International Space Station on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, as NASA\u2019s SpaceX Crew-11 mission winds down. Image: NASA via livestream Update Jan. 14, 6:30 p.m. EST (2330 UTC): NASA, SpaceX confirm safe undocking of the Dragon Endeavour. The SpaceX Crew-11 mission is coming to a close with the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[850,851,717,852,853,190,854,316],"class_list":["post-9642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-crew-dragon-endeavour","tag-crew-11","tag-international-space-station","tag-kimiya-yui","tag-mike-fincke","tag-nasa","tag-oleg-platonov","tag-spacex"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9642"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9642"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9642\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9642"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}