A medical emergency on the International Space Station saw a patient and three other astronauts sent home more than a month early.
Astronauts on NASA’s International Space Station (ISS) likely wish they had Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy among their crew members, but he, of course, only exists in Star Trek movies and series. While astronauts have occasionally felt unwell up in the ISS, this is the first time NASA has deemed it necessary to return the ailing astronaut and three other crew members to Earth in their first medical evacuation. This led to the patient and his crew mates heading home over a month early.
SpaceX got involved and guided the capsule in a middle of the night splashdown in the Pacific close to San Diego. This came less than 11 hours from the astronauts exiting the ISS, and their first stop along the way was a hospital for an overnight stay.
NASA’s new administrator, Jared Isaacman, was quoted by the BBC following the splashdown, saying, “Obviously, we took this action (early return) because it was a serious medical condition,” he said, adding, “The astronaut in question is fine right now, in good spirits and going through the proper medical checks.”
The unexpected exit from the mission that started in August, now leaves one American and two Russians on board. NASA and SpaceX did say they will try to move up the launch of a fresh crew of four astronauts in a liftoff targeted for mid-February.
Dragon and @NASA’s Crew-11 return to Earth, splashing down off the coast of California pic.twitter.com/Kc7c6VX14A
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) January 15, 2026
Officials have not revealed which astronaut was taken ill last week, or explain what has happened, citing medical privacy. However, those returned to Mother Earth include NASA’s Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, along with Russia’s Oleg Platonov and Japan’s Kimiya Yui. The four astronauts themselves weren’t giving anything away as they posed for a video, sending love to everyone, posted by SpaceX above.
While the astronaut was stable in the ISS, NASA wanted them to return to Earth as quickly as possible to receive diagnostic testing and proper care. Reportedly, the entry and splashdown required no special accommodations and the recovery ship had its normal allotment of medical experts on board.
Within one hour of splashdown, the four astronauts emerged from the capsule and were helped onto reclining cots. They were then whisked away for standard medical checks. NASA had decided some days ago that the entire crew would head straight to a San Diego-area hospital after splashdown. Moreover, they even practiced helicopter runs to the hospital from their recovery ship.
In the meanwhile, the unnamed ailing astronaut is receiving in-depth medical checks before flying with the rest of the crew back to Houston on Friday, if all are well enough at that stage. It wasn’t clear when Platonov would return home to Moscow.
Welcome home, Crew-11! At 3:41am ET (0841 UTC), the @SpaceX Dragon spacecraft splashed down off the coast of San Diego, California. pic.twitter.com/8LFpdKwizc
— NASA (@NASA) January 15, 2026
Over the past week, NASA has repeatedly stressed that this was not an emergency. They said the astronaut in question fell sick or was injured on January 7. This prompted NASA to cancel the next day’s spacewalk by Cardman and Fincke, ultimately resulting in the early return. This was the first time NASA has cut short a spaceflight for medical reasons, but the Russians have done so several decades ago.
Meanwhile, the ISS has managed to get by with just three astronauts before, sometimes with just two. However, NASA did say it will be unable to perform a spacewalk, even for an emergency, until the next crew arrives, which will have two Americans, one Russian and one French astronaut.
