Rare Health Issue Forces Early Return of ISS Crew-11

Four Crew-11 astronauts were medically evacuated from the ISS after a health issue forced an early end to their six-and-a-half-month stay, landing off the California coast where they underwent medical checks; the ill crewmember’s condition is stable, and the mission was cut short, with three crew remaining aboard until four replacements arrive in February as command was handed to Sergey Kud-Sverchkov. This marks the first health-related ISS evacuation since the station’s 1998 launch, and only the third such early exit in spaceflight history (1985 and 1987).