NASA has said the window for returning four astronauts from the International Space Station due to a 'serious medical condition' begins today, 14 January at 17:05 EST (22:05 UTC).
The space agency will livestream the crew's return, beginning with undocking from the ISS and ending with splashdown.
More on human spaceflight
Crew-11 – consisting of astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, JAXA astronaut Kimiya Yui and Russian Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov – are scheduled land off the coast of California on 15 January at 03:41 ET (08:41 UTC), NASA says.
The four-person crew is being returned early from the International Space Station due to a medical condition affecting one of the astronauts.
NASA has so far not revealed which astronaut is affected, or what the nature of the condition is, but did say it was unrelated to operational procedures.
Why Crew-11 is returning early
On 7 January 2026, NASA announced it had postponed a planned spacewalk scheduled for 8 January due to a “medical concern” involving a Crew-11 astronaut.
Crew-11 launched to the International Space Station on 1 August 2025, with return to Earth planned for February 2026.
The medical concern arose on Wednesday afternoon, 7 January, causing NASA to postpone a spacewalk.
On 8 January, NASA announced it would return the Crew-11 mission to Earth earlier than planned.
Here are NASA's timings for coverage of the event, which you can watch via the livestream below, courtesy of NASA+, the agency's live streaming service.
Wednesday 14 January
Times given in EST/UTC
15:00/20:00 – Hatch closure coverage begins
15:30/20:30 – Hatch closing
16:45/21:45 – Undocking coverage begins
17:05/22:05 – Undocking
Thursday 15 January
02:15/07:15 – Return coverage begins
02:51/07:51 – Deorbit burn
03:41/08:41 – Splashdown
05:45/10:40 – NASA's post-splashdown news conference begins
