Four astronauts have safely returned to Earth after Nasa carried out its first-ever medical evacuation from the International Space Station, ending a mission months earlier than planned because of a "serious" but undisclosed health issue affecting one crew member.
The SpaceX capsule splashed down in the Pacific Ocean near San Diego during the night, bringing home commander Zena Cardman, NASA astronaut Mike Fincke, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov and Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui. All four were helped from the capsule on stretchers, a standard precaution after long periods in microgravity, smiling and waving as recovery teams assisted them.
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NASA has not identified which astronaut fell ill or provided details of the condition, citing medical privacy, but said the crew member was stable. Agency officials stressed the return was not an emergency evacuation, but a precautionary decision to allow full medical evaluation on the ground.
The mission, known as Crew-11, arrived at the ISS in August and was due to remain in orbit until mid-February. While early returns due to illness have occurred in other space programmes, this marks the first such medical evacuation in NASA's 65 years of human spaceflight, highlighting both the risks of long-duration missions and the agency's growing ability to respond swiftly when health concerns arise in orbit.
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