NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 Safely Splashes Down Off San Diego County Coast

SAN DIEGO, CA — The four-person crew from NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 mission to the International Space Station safely splashed down early Thursday morning into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego County.

NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov returned to Earth at 12:41 a.m. PST. Teams aboard SpaceX recovery vessels retrieved the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft and its crew shortly after landing.

The spaceflight was the fourth for Fincke, second for Yui and first for both Cardman and Platonov.

"I couldn't be prouder of our astronauts and the teams on the ground at NASA, SpaceX, and across our international partnerships," NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said in a statement. "Their professionalism and focus kept the mission on track, even with an adjusted timeline. Crew-11 completed more than 140 science experiments that advance human exploration."

NASA announced last Thursday the crew would be leaving the International Space Station earlier than originally planned due to a medical concern for a crew member who was not identified and only described as stable. NASA did not share any other information due to medical privacy.

Following a planned overnight hospital stay, the crew members will return to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston and undergo standard postflight reconditioning and evaluations.

The mission launched on Aug. 1 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. During their 167-day mission, the four crew members traveled nearly 71 million miles and completed more than 2,670 orbits around Earth.