Four astronauts return from the International Space Station
Four astronauts aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule are scheduled to splash down early Thursday in the Pacific Ocean, concluding a weeklong effort to return a crew member home for medical evaluation, reports BritPanorama.
The crew departed from the International Space Station at 5:20 p.m. ET Wednesday and is currently on a 10-hour journey to Earth, gradually lowering in altitude and preparing for reentry. Their expected splashdown time is around 3:40 a.m. ET Thursday off the coast of California.
The decision to bring the astronauts home was made by NASA last week, which initially planned a spacewalk that was canceled due to a medical issue involving one of the crew members.
Dr. James Polk, chief health and medical officer at NASA, stated, “This is not an injury that occurred in the pursuit of operations.” He later clarified that the medical issue is related to “microgravity” conditions and emphasized the need for diagnostic tools unavailable aboard the space station, as while medically equipped, it lacks the full range of tools found in an emergency room.
The Crew-11 team consists of NASA’s Mike Fincke and Zena Cardman, as well as Kimiya Yui from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov of Roscosmos. NASA has not disclosed which crew member is experiencing the medical issue, stating only that the individual is stable and does not require special arrangements for the return trip.
The journey back to Earth can impose significant physical stress on astronauts, with g-forces potentially exceeding five times that of normal gravity. Reentry is notably perilous; the Crew Dragon capsule must descend at over 22 times the speed of sound, raising external temperatures beyond 3,500 degrees Fahrenheit, which can create a communication blackout due to plasma buildup.
Upon splashdown, recovery ships will be on hand to retrieve the capsule. It is standard protocol for astronauts to exit their capsule on medical stretchers to aid in their transition back to gravity, while this does not necessarily indicate a severe medical condition. NASA confirmed the affected astronaut will undergo comprehensive medical assessments post-return.
Staffing challenges at the ISS
The Crew-11 mission, initially scheduled to leave the station in mid-February, will leave the space station staffed by just three astronauts: two Russian cosmonauts, Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev, alongside NASA astronaut Chris Williams, who previously arrived under a rideshare agreement with Russia.
The return of the Crew-11 team marks a significant operational adjustment for the International Space Station, maintaining a focus on the ongoing wellbeing of its crew while preparing for future missions.
