Dragon Endeavour splashes down with Crew 11 following first medical evacuation from ISS

The Dragon capsule Endeavour with Crew 11 astronauts has splashed down after they were evacuated from the International Space Station on medical grounds. The splashdown happened around 3:45 am ET after the spacecraft undocked from the ISS at 5:20 pm on January 14. NASA will hold a press conference at 5:45 am EST, briefing the media about the circumstances in which the crew was returned early. This is the first time a medical evacuation was carried out from the space station. US astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov and Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yu are back on Earth after being launched into space in August 2025. They were supposed to spend six months in orbit, but a few hours before a scheduled spacewalk, one of the astronauts fell sick and NASA decided to bring them back early.

NASA press conference on crew return

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman will hold a press conference later, where he is expected to announce what exactly went wrong and why the space agency decided to return the crew early. On January 8, Mike Fincke, the ISS commander, and flight engineer Zena Cardman were supposed to carry out a spacewalk to make certain fittings. However, one of the four fell sick, and it was cancelled. NASA did not reveal which astronaut had faced the issue or what it was. Dr James Polk, NASA's chief health and medical officer, said the agency was “erring on the side of caution for the crew member” even though it isn't an emergency.

Also Read: NASA crew evacuated from ISS: What time will astronauts return, who is left and media briefing schedule

The early return means that the space station is left without a new crew. The next batch of astronauts is supposed to fly to the space station on February 15. However, the ceremonial keys to the ISS were handed over to Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Kud-Sverchov, who is there along with fellow cosmonaut Sergei Mikaev and NASA astronaut Chris Williams.