SpaceX Capsule With Four ISS Astronauts Returns To Earth In First-Ever Medical Evacuation | Watch

In a first-ever medical evacuation, SpaceX capsule named Endeavour, carrying a four-member International Space Station (ISS) crew home from orbit, splashed down safely in the Pacific Ocean off California early today.

Notably, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) cut short the mission due to a medical emergency, bringing the astronauts back a few weeks ahead of the set schedule.

A joint NASA-SpaceX webcast showed the capsule carrying US astronauts Mike Fincke and Zena Cardman, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov and Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui landing off the coast of San Diego.

VIDEO: 🧑🚀 🇺🇸 Astronauts return to Earth in first-ever medical evacuation

Four International Space Station crew members splashed down in the Pacific

Ocean on Thursday, after the first ever medical evacuation in the orbital lab’s history. A NASA video feed showed the capsule… pic.twitter.com/IIL8wrganB

— AFP News Agency (@AFP) January 15, 2026

The video featured the deployment of two sets of parachutes from the nose of the free-falling capsule, with the parachutes slowing the capsule’s descent rate to about 15 miles per hour (25 kilometres per hour) before gently landing onto the water.

During a radio transmission to the SpaceX flight control centre, Endeavour’s commander, NASA astronaut Zena Cardman, said, “It’s good to be home.”

Upon landing, all four astronauts were helped out of the capsule one by one, as they were welcomed with cheers and applause from SpaceX employees aboard a ship.

Why was the mission cut short?

The ISS crew made an early emergency return to Earth as one of the astronauts faced an undisclosed medical condition. Last week, NASA announced that it had cancelled a spacewalk at the last minute because of health concerns involving one of the crew members.

On January 8, the agency declared that all four Crew-11 members would be brought home early.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman revealed that one of the astronauts was facing a “serious medical condition”, calling for immediate medical attention on the ground.

However, the authorities have not yet disclosed what was the condition that prompted an emergency landing, citing privacy concerns.