rki.news
Los Angeles, January 15 — NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 astronauts returned safely to Earth early Thursday after the mission was concluded ahead of schedule due to a medical issue involving one crew member aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
The four-member crew traveled back aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, which splashed down off the coast of California at approximately 3:41 a.m. local time (1141 GMT) following a journey lasting around 10 hours.
Crew-11 included NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov. The astronauts had arrived at the ISS on August 2 last year and were originally expected to remain on the orbital laboratory for about six months.
NASA decided to end the mission earlier than planned after one astronaut experienced a medical issue on January 7. The agency did not disclose further details, citing privacy considerations, and confirmed that the crew returned safely.