By Steve Gorman
Jan 14 (Reuters) - A SpaceX capsule departed the International Space Station on Wednesday carrying a four-member crew on an emergency return flight to Earth necessitated by an unspecified
serious medical condition afflicting one of the astronauts aboard.
The Crew Dragon capsule carrying two U.S. NASA astronauts, a Japanese crewmate and a Russian cosmonaut undocked from the space station and began its descent from orbit at about 5:20 p.m. EST (2220 GMT) headed for a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the California coast early on Thursday.
Live video from a NASA webcast of the departure showed the capsule separating from the ISS and drifting away from the orbiting laboratory as the two vehicles soared some 260 miles (418 km) over the Earth south of Australia.
The astronauts were seen strapped into the Crew Dragon cabin, seated side by side and wearing their helmeted white and black space suits as the undocking proceeded.
The plan to bring all four members of Crew-11 home a few weeks ahead of schedule was announced January 8, with NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman saying one of the astronauts faced a "serious medical condition" that required immediate medical attention on the ground.
NASA officials have not identified which of the four crew members was experiencing a medical issue or described its nature, citing privacy concerns.
The crew consists of U.S. astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov. They arrived at the space station following a launch to orbit from Florida in August.
Fincke, the station's designated commander, and Cardman, assigned as flight engineer, had been scheduled to conduct a six-hour-plus spacewalk last week to install hardware outside the station. The spacewalk was canceled on January 7 over what NASA then characterized as a "medical concern" with an astronaut.
NASA Chief Health and Medical Officer James Polk later said the medical emergency did not involve "an injury that occurred in the pursuit of operations."
If all goes as planned, Thursday's splashdown will conclude what ended up being a 167-day mission.
(Reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by Chris Reese and David Gregorio)
