NASA astronauts hospitalized after splashdown off San Diego coast

 The four-person crew from NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 mission to the International Space Station safely splashed down into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego County at 12:41 a.m. Thursday.

Teams aboard the recovery ship, including two fast boats, secured the SpaceX Dragon capsule and ensuring it was safe for the recovery effort, according to NASA. After the fast boat teams completed their work, the recovery ship moved into position to hoist Dragon onto the main deck with the astronauts inside.

Crew members began exiting the capsule at 1:28 a.m., led by Mike Fincke, its captain, who assists the commander in maneuvering the capsule. He was followed by fellow NASA astronaut Zena Cardman, the commander, who is responsible for the overall success of the mission, the safety of crew and spacecraft and manages ascent and entry.

Kimiya Yui, a Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut, was the third to exit. Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov was the last to exit. They were both mission specialists, astronauts with mission-specific duties.

Each crew member was placed on a gurney upon exiting and immediately carried to a nearby medical tent for evaluation. They were set to be taken to a hospital following their initial evaluations.

It took eight minutes to get all four crew members off the spacecraft.

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, according to NASA.

The Dragon undocked from the International Space Station’s Harmony module at 2:20 p.m. Wednesday Pacific Standard Time to begin the trip back to Earth, according to NASA.

NASA announced last Thursday the crew would be leaving the International Space Station about one month earlier than originally planned due to a medical concern for a crew member who was not identified and only described as stable.

Due to medical privacy, “it is not appropriate for NASA to share more details about the crew member,” the agency announced.

It was the first time in NASA history a space mission was cut short because of a medical issue.

During their 167-day mission, the four crew members traveled nearly 71 million miles and completed more than 2,670 orbits around Earth, according to NASA.

Crew-11 conducted hundreds of hours of research, maintenance, and technology demonstrations. The crew members also celebrated the 25th anniversary of continuous human presence aboard the orbiting laboratory on Nov. 2.

The mission was Fincke’s fourth spaceflight, Yui’s second, and the first for both Cardman and Platonov. Fincke has logged 549 days in space, fourth among all NASA astronauts. Peggy Whitson holds the NASA record with 695 days.

The world record is held by Russian Oleg Kononenko, 1,111 days.

“I couldn’t be prouder of our astronauts and the teams on the ground at NASA, SpaceX, and across our international partnerships,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said. “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.”

In the Artemis II mission, four astronauts will venture around the Moon, the first crewed mission on NASA’s path to establishing a long-term presence at the Moon for science and exploration. The 10-day flight will help confirm systems and hardware needed for early human lunar exploration missions.

The mission will take place no later than April, according to NASA.

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