SPACE STATION CREW HEADS HOME EARLY AFTER MEDICAL ISSUE

NASA cuts ISS mission short, first medical evacuation in station’s 25-year history
  • Four SpaceX Crew-11 members gather together for a crew portrait wearing their Dragon pressure suits during a suit verification check inside the International Space Station’s Kibo laboratory module. Clockwise from bottom left are, NASA astronaut Mike Fincke, Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, NASA astronaut Zena Cardman, and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui. Credit: NASA
    Four SpaceX Crew-11 members gather together for a crew portrait wearing their Dragon pressure suits during a suit verification check inside the International Space Station’s Kibo laboratory module. Clockwise from bottom left are, NASA astronaut Mike Fincke, Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, NASA astronaut Zena Cardman, and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui. Credit: NASA

    Four astronauts aboard the International Space Station will return to Earth this week, more than a month ahead of schedule, after one crew member developed an unspecified medical condition.

    NASA and SpaceX are targeting 5:05 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday for undocking and a splashdown around 3:41 a.m. Thursday off the coast of California.

    The early return marks a first in the station’s 25 years of conti…