NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 has safely returned to Earth in an unprecedented ISS medical evacuation, splashing down off the Californian coast on Thursday morning.
Landing in the Pacific Ocean near San Diego at 3:41 a.m. ET / 12:41 a.m. PT, a Dragon capsule saw four astronauts safely returned from the International Space Station after a 167-day mission. NASA’s Commander Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, Japan’s Kimiya Yui, and Russia’s Oleg Platonov landed right on time, according to NASA, and were retrieved by a SpaceX recovery crew waiting nearby.
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You can watch the splashdown on NASA’s YouTube livestream (around the 1:30:00 mark).
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As the capsule waited for the SpaceX recovery crew, a few cheeky dolphins popped up right beside it:
Cute!
Credit: NASA / YouTube
The crew’s landing date was brought forward due to medical concerns with one of the crew, the name of whom NASA has kept confidential during all press statements. Mashable space reporter Elisha Sauers took a detailed look at NASA’s first medical evacuation from the ISS. According to NASA, the crew member “remains stable,” and stated in a press release, “Due to medical privacy, it is not appropriate for NASA to share more details about the crew member.”
After being brought aboard the SpaceX recovery ship, all four astronauts exited the capsule with help from the crew, then were transported immediately to a medical tent on board. According to NASA, they’re set to be assessed in a local hospital overnight and then taken to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston for further evaluation.
NASA Commander Zena Cardman emerging from the landed Dragon capsule.
Credit: NASA / YouTube
Crew-11 left Earth on Aug. 1, 2025, from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and have since conducted research and experiments designed to prepare for future human exploration of Mars and the moon.
