Spaceflight Now

SpaceX Crew-11 returns to Earth, concluding NASA's 1st medical evacuation from the ISS

NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 mission splashed down off the coast of California in the predawn hours of Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. This comes after Dragon Endeavour spacecraft undocked from the International Space Station at 5:20 p.m. EST (2220 UTC) on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, concluding more than 160 days in space. The quartet left a little more than a month earlier than the original planned departure date in response to a "serious medical concern" with one of the crew members that caused NASA to postpone two scheduled spacewalks. This is the first time that an astronaut medical issue caused NASA to end a mission earlier than planned. NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Finke along with Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Kimiya Yui and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov suited up in their Dragon flight suits Wednesday afternoon before giving one final goodbye to the three remaining members of Expedition 74. They conducted a roughly 10.5-hour journey before splashing down at 3:41 a.m. EST (0841 UTC). This coverage is made possible by the support of our members. Join this channel to help us expand our coverage and get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoLdERT4-TJ82PJOHSrsZLQ/join