NASA's Crew-11 will leave the International Space Station earlier than planned to monitor an unspecified medical concern. Command of the ISS will transfer to Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Kud-Sverchkov during the handover. The returning crew — Mike Fincke, Zena Cardman, Kimiya Yui and Oleg Platonov — is scheduled to undock Wednesday and splash down off California early Thursday. NASA has not released details about the medical issue or identified the astronaut involved.
NASA's Crew-11 Returning Early; ISS Command To Transfer To Roscosmos Cosmonaut Sergey Kud-Sverchkov
NASA's Crew-11 will return to Earth earlier than planned after an unspecified medical concern prompted an early departure from the International Space Station. Command of the station will transfer to Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Kud-Sverchkov during the handover.
The crew returning home includes NASA astronauts Mike Fincke and Zena Cardman, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov. The team is scheduled to undock from the ISS on Wednesday and splash down off the coast of California in the early morning hours on Thursday.
Reason for Early Return
NASA has said the early return is to monitor a medical concern involving a crew member. For privacy reasons, the agency has not released details about the medical issue or identified which astronaut is being monitored.
Handover And Coverage
The transfer of station command to Sergey Kud-Sverchkov is a routine but important operational step when crew assignments change. NewsNation will stream the handover live from this story.
Note: NASA routinely prioritizes crew health and privacy. Early returns and command transfers are handled according to established safety protocols.
We will update this story as NASA provides additional information.
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