During their 167-day mission, the four crew members travelled nearly 71 million miles and completed more than 2 670 orbits around Earth.
NASA ended Crew-11’s space stay on board the International Space Station a few weeks early due to a “lingering risk” to an astronaut’s health, in a stark reminder of the famous line from the Apollo 13 message: “Houston, we’ve had a problem.”
A SpaceX capsule departed the ISS on Wednesday, carrying four astronauts, in an emergency return flight due to the ailing health of a crew member.
Sick astronaut
Nasa confirmed that the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft carrying the US astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov splashed down off the coast of San Diego at 12.41am local time (8.41am SA time).
This is the first time NASA has cut short a space crew’s mission due to a health emergency. Officials did not identify which of the four astronauts on board was facing the said issues, citing privacy concerns.
It stressed that the return is not an emergency.
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Short stay
The group spent 167 days on board the space station, conducting a long-duration science mission as part of SpaceX’s 11th crewed mission. They were also part of NASA’s Expedition 74, which began on December 8.
NASA announced on 8 January that the SpaceX-Crew 11’s mission would be ending earlier than planned. The mission was originally due to end in late February.
Mars
“I couldn’t be prouder of our astronauts and the teams on the ground at NASA, SpaceX, and across our international partnerships,” said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman.
“Their professionalism and focus kept the mission on track, even with an adjusted timeline. Crew-11 completed more than 140 science experiments that advance human exploration.
“Missions like Crew-11 demonstrate the capability inherent in America’s space program—our ability to bring astronauts home as needed, launch new crews quickly, and continue pushing forward on human spaceflight as we prepare for our historic Artemis II mission, from low Earth orbit to the Moon and ultimately Mars.”
Earth orbits
Following a planned overnight hospital stay, the crew members will return to NASA’s Johnson Space Centre in Houston and undergo standard postflight reconditioning and evaluations.
During their 167-day mission, the four crew members travelled nearly 71 million miles and completed more than 2 670 orbits around Earth.
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