Updated Jan. 11 with comments from astronaut Mike Fincke.
WASHINGTON — NASA plans to return four astronauts from the International Space Station to Earth early Jan. 15, about a week after one of the crew members experienced a medical issue that prompted the shortened mission.
In a statement late Jan. 9, NASA said the Crew-11 astronauts will undock from the International Space Station at about 5 p.m. Eastern on Jan. 14. Splashdown, at a location to be determined off the California coast, is scheduled for about 3:40 a.m. Eastern on Jan. 15.
The timeline was announced a little more than 24 hours after NASA said it would bring Crew-11 home more than a month early following a “medical condition” affecting one of the astronauts on Jan. 7. NASA has not identified the astronaut or disclosed details of the condition. The decision marks the first time the agency has cut short a crewed mission because of a medical issue.
At a Jan. 8 briefing announcing the early return, agency officials emphasized that the situation did not require an emergency return within hours.
“This was a serious medical condition. This is why we’re pursuing this path,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said. “The crewmember is stable, as we mentioned, and we’re not electing an emergency deorbit.”
The early, but not emergency, return will not involve any major changes in timelines or procedures for bringing back the crew.
“This is the first time we’ve done a controlled medical evacuation from the vehicle,” said NASA Associate Administrator Amit Kshatriya. “However, the procedures that we’re using to prepare for that are nominal procedures.”
“What’s important for us is the whole crew, and we don’t want to do anything, given the nature of the condition, that would put any additional risk on the crew by diverging from our normal processes,” he added, describing the plan as a “controlled and expedited return.”
There is also no “special plan” for the afflicted crewmember for the return to Earth, said J.D. Polk, NASA chief health and medical officer. “We prepare for anomalies and medical issues on every landing,” he said, noting that those preparations would be sufficient in this case.
NASA provided no additional details about the medical issue. Polk said at the briefing that it was not linked to ISS operations, including preparations for a spacewalk scheduled for Jan. 8.
“It’s mostly having a medical issue in the difficult area of microgravity and with the suite of hardware that are available to complete a diagnosis,” he said, requiring a return to Earth to complete a “workup” of the affected astronaut. “The best place to compete that workup is on the ground, where we have the full suite of medical testing hardware.”
The four members of Crew-11 — NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, JAXA astronaut Kimiya Yui and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov — had not commented on NASA’s decision to end the mission early until Fincke posted on social media early Jan. 11.
“First and foremost, we are all OK. Everyone on board is stable, safe, and well cared for,” he wrote. “This was a deliberate decision to allow the right medical evaluations to happen on the ground, where the full range of diagnostic capability exists. It’s the right call, even if it’s a bit bittersweet.”
He praised the work of NASA personnel in recent days regarding the early return. “Flight surgeons, engineers, managers, and support teams came together quickly and professionally to chart the best path forward. The ground teams—across mission control centers and partner organizations around the world—have been extraordinary.”
His post included a photo of the four Crew-11 members in their Crew Dragon spacesuits as part of preparations for their return: “a normal, methodical step in getting ready to come home, and a reminder that this decision was made calmly and carefully, with people at the center.”