Watch Crew-11 astronauts undock in 1st-ever medical evacuation from the International Space Station today

two white spacecraft are seen docked at different orientations on a space station, floating above Earth.

(Image credit: NASA)

Four astronauts aboard the International Space Station are returning to Earth today (Jan. 14), more than a month earlier than originally planned.

NASA made the decision to cut SpaceX's Crew-11 mission short due to an undisclosed medical concern with one of the astronauts; the crew was scheduled to spend a six-month stint on the International Space Station (ISS) and return around late February, but they're now in the final stages of preparing for their departure. The hatch between the station and their Crew Dragon spacecraft is expected to close at approximately 3:30 p.m. EST (2030 GMT) today, followed by undocking around 5:05 p.m. EST (2305 GMT).

NASA will begin hatch closure coverage at 3 p.m. EST (2000 GMT) today followed by undocking coverage at 4:45 p.m. EST (0245 GMT, Jan. 15). You can watch the broadcast on NASA+, Amazon Prime, and the agency’s YouTube, as well as here on Space.com.

NASA mission managers polled "go" on Tuesday (Jan. 13) to proceed with Crew-11's undocking, saying in a statement, "Weather is looking excellent for Dragon's parachute-assisted splashdown off the coast of California."

The Crew-11 mission launched to the ISS on Aug. 1, 2025, carrying NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, Japan's Kimiya Yui and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov. The quartet wasn't scheduled to depart until the astronauts of SpaceX's Crew-12 launched to take their place. But concerns about a medical situation leading up to a planned Jan. 8 spacewalk, or EVA, quickly escalated to NASA's decision of returning the crew early.

NASA administrator Jared Isaacman announced the mission's end during a press conference the same day as the canceled EVA, and crews aboard the ISS began their preparations to leave — including a change of command ceremony during which Fincke transferred the symbolic key to the ISS to Roscosmos' Sergey Kud-Sverchov.

With its departure ahead of Crew-12's arrival, Crew-11 leaves behind a skeleton crew of three aboard the ISS, including Kud-Sverchov and fellow cosmonaut Sergei Mikaev as well as NASA astronaut Chris Williams. Crew-12 is currently scheduled to launch no earlier than Feb. 15.

After they undock, Crew-11 astronauts face an 11-hour deorbit trajectory, with an expected to splashdown on Thursday (Jan. 15) at 3:41 a.m. EST (0841 GMT), off the coast of California, in the Pacific Ocean.

A post landing press conference is scheduled for Thursday at 5:45 a.m. EST (1045 GMT), which will also be broadcast here as well.

Josh Dinner is the Staff Writer for Spaceflight at Space.com. He is a writer and photographer with a passion for science and space exploration, and has been working the space beat since 2016. Josh has covered the evolution of NASA's commercial spaceflight partnerships and crewed missions from the Space Coast, as well as NASA science missions and more. He also enjoys building 1:144-scale model rockets and human-flown spacecraft. Find some of Josh's launch photography on Instagram and his website, and follow him on X, where he mostly posts in haiku.

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