Thursday, January 15, 2026

Crew-11 Has Safely Returned to Earth After a Shortened Stay at the ISS...

The SpaceX Dragon Endeavour capsule carrying the four Crew-11 astronauts reenters Earth's atmosphere off the coast of California...on January 15, 2026.
SpaceX

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 Dragon Splashdown at 3:41 a.m. EST (News Release)

At 3:41 a.m. EST, the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, carrying NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov splashed down off the coast of San Diego, California.

This completes a stay in space of 167 days for the four-person crew. The mission returned to Earth earlier than originally planned as teams monitored a medical concern with a crew member living and working aboard the orbital laboratory. The crew member is stable.

Teams aboard the recovery ship, including two fast boats, are securing the SpaceX Dragon and ensuring that the spacecraft is safe for the recovery effort. As the fast boat teams complete their work, the recovery ship will move into position to hoist Dragon onto the main deck with the astronauts inside. Once on the main deck, the crew will egress the spacecraft.

NASA previously announced that all four crew members will be transported to a local hospital for additional evaluation, taking advantage of medical resources on Earth to provide the best care possible.

Following a planned overnight hospital stay, the crew will return to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, where they will reunite with their families and undergo standard post-flight reconditioning and evaluations. Due to medical privacy, it is not appropriate for NASA to share more details about the crew member.

NASA will host a post-splashdown media conference at 5:45 a.m. on NASA+, Amazon Prime and the agency’s YouTube channel, with the following participants:

-- NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman
-- Joel Montalbano, deputy associate administrator, NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate

Source: NASA.Gov

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The four Crew-11 astronauts pose for the camera after the hatch is open to their Crew Dragon Endeavour capsule aboard the SpaceX vessel Shannon...on January 15, 2026.
NASA / Bill Ingalls

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