NASA spacecraft departs ISS in medical evacuation of Crew-11

NASA's SpaceX Dragon left the International Space Station on Jan. 14 to return Crew-11 early after a reported serious medical emergency; NASA said the affected astronaut was stable and not in immediate danger.

The International Space Station crew evacuation began when Crew-11 boarded a SpaceX Dragon capsule and closed its hatch on Jan. 14. NASA said a member of the crew had a serious medical episode last week and that the astronaut was stable and not in immediate danger. NASA administrator Jared Isaacman approved the early return out of caution. Known details: - Crew-11 entered the Dragon capsule and closed the hatch at 2:29pm ET on Jan. 14. - The Dragon was scheduled to depart the ISS at 5:15pm ET for a roughly 10-hour flight, with deorbit around 2:50am ET and a planned splashdown off the coast of California about 3:40am ET on Jan. 15. - NASA’s chief medical officer James Polk said the affected astronaut’s identity was not released and described the person as stable and not in immediate danger. Summary: This is the first time an ISS crew mission has been ended early for medical reasons, as reported. The capsule’s departure, deorbit and splashdown times were scheduled as noted above, and further official updates were not released at the time of the report.