Historic First: Astronauts Safely Return After Unprecedented Medical Evacuation from the International Space Station
In a historic milestone for human spaceflight, four astronauts from NASA’s Crew-11 mission safely returned to Earth on January 15, 2026, after the first-ever medical evacuation from the International Space Station (ISS). Commander Zena Cardman, pilot Mike Fincke, JAXA’s Kimiya Yui, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov splashed down in the Pacific off San Diego aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon following an early undocking on January 14, ending their 167-day mission more than a month ahead of schedule due to a serious but undisclosed medical condition affecting one crew member. The decision, made with the crew member’s condition stable and safety as the top priority, marked an unprecedented event in the ISS’s 25-year continuous human presence, leaving a reduced skeleton crew of three aboard until the next rotation arrives in mid-February. This rare evacuation—predicted by NASA models to occur roughly every three years but never before realized on the ISS—highlights the ongoing challenges of long-duration spaceflight and the critical need for advanced medical capabilities as humanity prepares for future missions to the Moon and Mars.
