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The US space agency NASA plans to begin the early retrieval of a four-member astronaut crew from the International Space Station ISS next Wednesday. (archive picture)
Keystone
The US space agency NASA plans to begin the early retrieval of a four-member astronaut crew from the International Space Station ISS next Wednesday. It is planned to undock the Crew 11 mission from the ISS at 23:00 (CET) at the earliest.
In other words, at 17:00 US East Coast time, weather conditions permitting, according to a statement from the space agency in Washington.
If everything goes according to plan, the four members of "Crew 11" are expected to splash down off the coast of California at around 3:40 a.m. (9:40 a.m. CET) on Thursday, January 15. However, the exact time can only be determined as the undocking approaches. Much depends on the weather, the sea state and other factors, the statement continued.
Nasa announced on Thursday that for the first time in the history of the International Space Station (ISS), it was planning to bring a four-member astronaut crew back to Earth prematurely due to the health problems of one crew member. NASA would not comment on the identity of the crew member or details of the health problems. However, it had nothing to do with the crew's work on board the ISS and it was not an emergency, said Nasa's chief medical officer, James Polk. The crew member was in a stable condition.
Nasa had already canceled an external mission to the ISS planned for Thursday at short notice due to the crew member's health problems. US astronauts Zena Cardman and Michael Fincke were due to take part in the mission. Together with Japanese space traveler Kimiya Yui and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, they have been on board the ISS as "Crew 11" since the beginning of August. They were supposed to stay there for a few more weeks.
10.01.2026, 05:55
