Medical Evacuation From Space Completed Successfully

For the first time in the 25-year history of crewed operations on the International Space Station, a mission has been cut short because of the medical condition of a crew member. Last week, NASA decided to return all four members of Crew 11—who reached the station aboard SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft—more than a month earlier than planned. The agency did not disclose which astronaut was affected or what medical condition prompted the move.

Crew 11 launched to the ISS in July 2025. The crew included NASA astronaut Zena Cardman, making her first spaceflight, and veteran astronaut Michael Fincke, 58, on his fourth space mission.  Also aboard were Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov. The decision to cut the mission short came soon after NASA announced the cancellation of a planned spacewalk—an excursion outside the station in spacesuits, with Cardman and Fincke slated to take part.

The space station is equipped with extensive medical equipment to handle a wide range of possible situations, and sometimes one of the crew members is a physician. Even when there is no doctor aboard, astronauts receive close medical support from mission control. In the past, astronauts have been treated in orbit for issues such as toothaches and earaches, but a mission has never before been shortened for medical reasons. Still, NASA did not classify this case as an emergency.

The crew undocked from the station in an orderly fashion, following standard procedures, and spent 11 hours in Earth orbit to align for reentry. Dragon Endeavour then splashed down as planned in the Pacific Ocean off San Diego, Southern California. Recovery boats reached the capsule soon afterward and towed it to SpaceX’s recovery ship. Within an hour, all four crew members were out of the spacecraft and taken for initial medical checks on seated stretchers – not necessarily because of the underlying medical condition, but because readjusting to Earth’s gravity can be difficult after nearly six months in microgravity.

NASA can’t evacuate just one crew member, because the spacecraft that carries astronauts to the station also serves as the station’s “lifeboat” in an emergency. If only the sick astronaut were sent back to Earth, the other three would be left without an escape vehicle. As a result, the early return has left just three people aboard the ISS—a situation that has not occurred in a long time.

The current station crew, which arrived on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft, includes Russian cosmonauts Sergei Kud-Sverchov – who assumed command from Fincke – and Sergei Mikaev, along with American astronaut Chris Williams. With fewer hands on board, a significant share of the station’s experiments and research is expected to be postponed, both because of the reduced manpower and because the remaining crew will need to spend much more time on routine maintenance – work that, until now, was divided among seven crew members.

The next crew is not due to launch to the station until February 15, assuming no delays. It will include American astronauts Jack Hathaway and Jessica Meir – set for her second visit to the space station – alongside French astronaut Sophie Adenot of the European Space Agency and Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev.