NASA Crew-11 returns to Earth in first medically-driven space evacuation

New Delhi, Jan 15: NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 mission safely splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego early Thursday, concluding a more than five-month stay aboard the International Space Station and marking what NASA highlighted as its first medically driven evacuation from space.

NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, JAXA astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov returned to Earth at 12:41 am PST.

The mission ended about a month earlier than planned due to a medical concern with one crew member, who remains stable.

NASA said the early return allowed the crew to access advanced medical care on Earth, underscoring the agency’s capability to bring astronauts home when needed. “I couldn’t be prouder of our astronauts and the teams on the ground at NASA, SpaceX, and across our international partnerships,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said.

“Missions like Crew-11 demonstrate our ability to bring astronauts home as needed, launch new crews quickly, and continue pushing forward on human spaceflight,” reported NASA.

NASA had coordinated for all four crew members to be transported to a local hospital for evaluation following splashdown.

After an overnight stay, they are expected to return to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston for routine postflight recovery and assessments. Launched on August 1, 2025, Crew-11 spent 167 days in orbit, traveling nearly 71 million miles and completing more than 2670 orbits of Earth.

During the mission, the crew carried out over 140 science experiments and marked 25 years of continuous human presence aboard the space station, contributing research critical to future Moon and Mars exploration.