Ailing astronaut returns to Earth early in NASA's first medical
evacuation
[January 15, 2026]
By MARCIA DUNN
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — An ailing astronaut returned to Earth with
three others on Thursday, ending their space station mission more than a
month early in NASA’s first medical evacuation.
SpaceX guided the capsule to a middle-of-the-night splashdown in the
Pacific near San Diego, less than 11 hours after the astronauts exited
the International Space Station.
“It’s so good to be home,” said NASA astronaut Zena Cardman, the capsule
commander.
It was an unexpected finish to a mission that began in August and left
the orbiting lab with only one American and two Russians on board. NASA
and SpaceX said they would try to move up the launch of a fresh crew of
four; liftoff is currently targeted for mid-February.
Cardman and NASA’s Mike Fincke were joined on the return by Japan’s
Kimiya Yui and Russia’s Oleg Platonov. Officials have refused to
identify the astronaut who developed the health problem last week or
explain what happened, citing medical privacy.
While the astronaut was stable in orbit, NASA wanted them back on Earth
as soon as possible to receive proper care and diagnostic testing. The
entry and splashdown required no special changes or accommodations,
officials said, and the recovery ship had its usual allotment of medical
experts on board.
The astronauts will receive more in-depth medical checks at a local
hospital before flying to their home base in Houston, NASA said.
Platonov’s return to Moscow was unclear.
The astronauts emerged from the capsule, one by one, after it was aboard
the recovery ship. They were helped onto reclining cots and then whisked
away for standard medical checks, waving to the cameras.
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Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, left, NASA astronauts Mike Fincke,
Zena Cardman, and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency)
astronaut Kimiya Yui are seen inside the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour
spacecraft onboard the SpaceX recovery ship SHANNON shortly after
having landed in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Long Beach,
Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)
Jared Isaacman, NASA’s new administrator, monitored the action from
Mission Control in Houston.
NASA stressed repeatedly over the past week that this was not an
emergency. The astronaut fell sick or was injured on Jan. 7,
prompting NASA to call off the next day’s spacewalk by Cardman and
Fincke, and ultimately resulting in the early return. It was the
first time NASA cut short a spaceflight for medical reasons. The
Russians had done so decades ago.
The space station has gotten by with three astronauts before,
sometimes even with just two. NASA said it will be unable to perform
a spacewalk, even for an emergency, until the arrival of the next
crew, which has two Americans, one French and one Russian astronaut.
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