The four astronauts of the mission after completing the undocking of the ship from the , where they were destined to carry out research, technology demonstrations and maintenance activities aboard the orbiting laboratory. The return of the crew occurs early due to the illness suffered by one of the astronauts.
Shortly after 5:20 p.m. this Wednesday, East Coast time, the unit that transports the Crew 11 mission, the Harmony module that serves as an internal connection with the ISS to begin return operations to Earth. In the broadcast, the Dragon could be seen separating from the ISS while both vehicles flew about 418 kilometers from Earth, with the capsule moving away from the complex and the crew already fastened into their suits.
The space agency explains that the weather conditions are ideal for the manned spacecraft to land with parachutes off the coast of California. The return flight, once the undocking has occurred, is expected to last just under 11 hours, to make contact with the Pacific at 9:41 Spanish peninsular time (3:41 ET).
“The quartet already on their way home spent Tuesday packing cargo, reviewing return-to-Earth procedures, and transferring hardware aboard the ISS,” NASA wrote in the mission’s digital log.
The module returns with NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, along with JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov aboard SpaceX’s Dragon manned spacecraft. NASA and SpaceX will recover the Dragon spacecraft and rescue the crew after its splashdown in the Pacific Ocean to return them to California before the crew members return to their home agencies.
“Cardman will command Dragon and Fincke will pilot it along with mission specialists Yui and Platonov,” NASA explained in a statement.
announced last week the early return of the expedition due to the illness of one of the astronauts. “I have decided that it is in the best interest of our astronauts for Crew 11 to return before their scheduled departure,” and private astronaut. The return of the crew of this mission was scheduled for March 2026.
“The technical teams are closely monitoring a medical problem that affects a crew member who currently lives and works on board the orbital laboratory,” reported the space agency, which has avoided offering more details about the situation of the affected crew member due to confidentiality, beyond the fact that he is “stable.”
“NASA’s SpaceX-11 crew members have volunteered to participate in a series of experiments to address health challenges that astronauts may face on deep space missions during NASA’s Artemis campaign and future human expeditions to Mars,” the space agency wrote when detailing the mission of Crew-11, which took off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center to complete its planned six-month mission, which would take place the first week of February. Then they would take a few weeks to prepare for their return, which they had to anticipate in a hurry.
The return operation of Crew-11 represents NASA’s 74th expedition. Commander Zena Cardman began the procedure to return to Earth with her companions on Tuesday. “He trained to use respirators in case of unlikely events, such as an ammonia leak. He then transferred the standard emergency equipment from the Dragon and stored it on the ISS. Fincke and Yui collaborated to uninstall the scientific equipment from the station and load it on the Dragon,” the agency states through its blog.
“The four crew members practiced Dragon’s deorbitation procedures on a computer and discussed their mission preparation with controllers on the ground. Three crew members will remain aboard the orbital station following the departure of Crew-11.”
This is the first medical evacuation from the International Space Station in its 25-year history. NASA has wanted to downplay the illness of one of the crew members. Dr. James Polk, NASA’s medical and health director, explained last week: “We have a very complete medical team on board the International Space Station, but we do not have the full amount of equipment that we would have in the emergency room, for example, to evaluate a patient. In this particular incident, the medical equipment was enough for us to be concerned about the astronaut and want to perform the evaluation. And the best way to perform it “It’s on the ground, where we have all the medical testing equipment. Since the astronaut is completely stable, this is not an emergency evacuation, we don’t disembark or take the astronaut down immediately, but there remains that lingering risk and the lingering question of what that diagnosis is.”
Last Monday the seven astronauts aboard the international space station made a broadcast to stage the change of command. The seven crew members appeared before the camera and none of them had any symptoms of being sick.
“The timing of this departure is unexpected, but what did not surprise me was how well this crew came together as a family to help and care for each other,” Cardman said in statements reported by National Public Radio (NPR). He added: “This largely includes our teams on the ground.”
“We are all fine. Everyone on board is stable, safe and well cared for,” Fincke wrote in a social media post, stressing the early return to Earth was “the right decision, even if it is a little bittersweet.”
