Update: Crew-11 Makes Safe Return to Earth
NASA’s Crew-11 mission splashed down safely off the coast of California at 3:41 AM Eastern time early Thursday morning, one week after an undisclosed medical issue involving one of its crew members caused NASA to bring the crew home early. Despite the unusual situation, Crew Dragon Endeavour conducted an otherwise normal return procedure, undocking from the International Space Station at 5:20 PM Eastern time on January 14th.
The crew appeared to be in good spirits throughout NASA’s live coverage of the event, as well as during a traditional change of command ceremony livestreamed on January 12th. As discussed last week, the involved crew member remained in stable condition, preventing the need for a more immediate emergency return.
In a press conference following splashdown, Joel Montalbano, Deputy Associate Administrator for the Space Operations Mission Directorate, noted that the crew would be taken to a medical facility in San Diego for evaluation. The decision to return the crew to Earth was made in large part because the ISS lacked the capabilities needed to properly evaluate the condition of the affected crew member. The crew are expected to return to Houston after their overnight stay.
Although this marks the first medical evacuation in the station’s history, the smooth return demonstrates the effectiveness of careful planning by NASA and its partners. During the post-landing press conference, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman reaffirmed NASA’s intent to launch Crew-12 in February without conflict to the upcoming Artemis II Moon mission. Crew-12 will send NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev to the station, restoring the laboratory to its usual crew size.
Edited by Alejandro Turnbull
