Four astronauts en route home from ISS after medical issue forces early exit
- by armradio
- Jan 15, 2026
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NASA
Four astronauts aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule are slated to splash down early Thursday in the Pacific Ocean, ending a weeklong effort to get an unnamed crew member home to evaluate a medical issue, CNN reports.
The crew left the International Space Station at 5:20 p.m. ET Wednesday aboard the spacecraft and are on a 10-hour journey, gradually lowering in altitude and preparing to reenter Earth’s atmosphere.
The astronauts, part of a mission called Crew-11, are scheduled to splash down around 3:40 a.m ET Thursday off the coast of California.
NASA made the decision to bring the crew home last week after it announced it was canceling a planned spacewalk due to a medical issue.
“This is not an injury that occurred in the pursuit of operations,” said Dr. James Polk, chief health and medical officer at NASA headquarters, during a January 8 news conference.
Rather, the problem relates to having a “medical issue in the difficult areas of microgravity,” Polk added, noting that NASA wanted to bring the astronaut home to make use of diagnostic tools. While the International Space Station does have a suite of medical equipment, it does not have all the tools a typical emergency room would have.
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