\n<\/p>\n
The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft carrying the Crew-11 astronauts has splashed down into the ocean after they left the ISS a month earlier than planned due a medical issue. It\u2019s the first time NASA cut a mission short due to a medical concern. The agency didn\u2019t name the crew member and their condition but stated that they were stable and that it wasn\u2019t a case of medical evacuation. NASA merely decided to end the mission early out of an abundance of caution, because the ISS didn\u2019t have the tools for a proper diagnosis.<\/p>\n
NASA astronauts Mike Fincke and Zena Cardman, JAXA\u2019s Kimiya Yui and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov \u2014 the members of Crew-11 \u2014 left for the space station on August 1 and were supposed to stay there until February. Despite the mission being cut early, they still stayed 167 days in space before they made their way back home. The Dragon capsule carrying the members splashed down off the coast of San Diego, California at 3:41AM on January 15. A SpaceX medical doctor was the first person who checked in on them, though that is routine procedure and not because of one member\u2019s medical issue.<\/p>\n
With Crew-11 back on Earth, there are now only three people aboard the orbiting lab. Two are Russian cosmonauts, while the other one is NASA astronaut Chris Williams. NASA is now looking at options to be able to send Crew-12 to the ISS earlier than its planned February 15 launch.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n