The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft carrying Crew-11 astronauts has plunged into the ocean after leaving the ISS a month earlier than planned due to a medical problem. This is the first time that NASA has cut a mission short due to medical concerns. The agency did not name the crew members or their conditions but said they were stable and it was not a case of medical evacuation. NASA decided to end the mission early out of an abundance of caution, as the ISS did not have the instruments for proper diagnosis.
NASA astronauts Mike Finke and Jenna Cardman, JAXA’s Kimiya Yui and Russian astronaut Oleg Platonov – members of Crew-11 – departed for the space station on August 1 and were scheduled to remain there until February. Despite the mission ending early, they remained in space for 167 days before returning home. The Dragon capsule carrying the members splashed down off the coast of San Diego, California at 3:41 am on January 15. The SpaceX medical doctor was the first person to examine them, although this is a routine procedure and not due to any member’s medical problem.
With Crew-11 returning to Earth, there are now only three people in the orbiting laboratory. Two are Russian astronauts, while the other is NASA astronaut Chris Williams. NASA is now considering options to be able to send Crew-12 to the ISS ahead of its scheduled launch on February 15.
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