What is Crew-11? What you need to know about astronauts who leave the space station early

What is Crew-11? What you need to know about astronauts who leave the space station early

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After more than five months in space, four astronauts on a mission known as Crew-11 are about to cut short their mission and return to Earth.

Since early August, the crew of the joint NASA-SpaceX mission has lived and worked on the International Space Station, conducting scientific research and maintaining the iconic outpost. But a health issue in January with one of the spacefarers led NASA to initiate the first medical evacuation in the 25-year history of the space station.

Now, the members of Crew-11, including two Americans, are potentially a day away from boarding the spacecraft that brought them to the orbital laboratory to make their way home.

Here’s everything you need to know about the Crew-11 mission, including a look at the astronauts and what they’ve been up to on the ISS.

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When will the Crew-11 astronauts be medically evacuated?

After one of the Crew-11 astronauts experienced what NASA called a “medical concern,” the space agency made the decision to cut the mission short and return all four to Earth.

Citing privacy, NASA did not specify the nature of the medical issue, nor did it identify the crew member, who is now stable.

The astronauts are due to depart no earlier than 5 pm ET Wednesday, January 14, from the International Space Station, NASA announced. If undocking were to occur as scheduled, the crew would face a journey of more than 10 hours through space and Earth’s atmosphere, culminating in a water landing around 3:40 am ET Thursday, January 15, off the coast of California.

NASA will provide live coverage of the astronauts’ return on the agency’s streaming app, NASA+.

What is the Crew of SpaceX-11?

Four members of the SpaceX-11 Crew pose for a photo inside the International Space Station. Clockwise from bottom left are NASA astronaut Mike Fincke, Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, NASA astronaut Zena Cardman, and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui.

As the name suggests, Crew-11 is NASA and SpaceX’s 11th science expedition to the International Space Station.

The missions, most of which last about six months, are contracted under NASA’s commercial crew program. The program allows the US space agency to pay SpaceX to launch and transport astronauts and cargo to orbit aboard the company’s Dragon vehicles, freeing NASA to focus on its Artemis lunar program and other spaceflight missions, including future manned trips to Mars.

NASA is also hoping to certify Boeing’s Starliner capsule to add a second operational vehicle for missions to the ISS before the station is retired by 2030.

Who are the astronauts of Crew-11?

The four crew members of NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 mission to the International Space Station train inside a Dragon training crew spacecraft at SpaceX in Hawthorne, California. From left to right: Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, NASA astronauts Mike Fincke and Zena Cardman, and JAXA astronaut Kimiya Yui.

The four crew members of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 mission to the International Space Station train inside a Dragon training crew spacecraft at SpaceX in Hawthorne, California. From left to right: Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, NASA astronauts Mike Fincke and Zena Cardman, and JAXA astronaut Kimiya Yui.

Here’s a look at the four astronauts who are part of Crew-11:

  • Cardman’s wifea NASA astronaut from Virginia making her first space flight

  • Mike Finckea NASA astronaut from Pennsylvania making his fourth trip to space

  • Yui KimiyaJapanese astronaut of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)

  • Oleg Platonova Russian cosmonaut of Roscosmos

How long will Crew-11 last in space? When they arrived ISS

The four astronauts selected for the mission reached the orbital laboratory after a launch on August 1, 2025, replacing the Crew-10 contingent.

They themselves will eventually be replaced by the Crew-12 mission.

SpaceX uses its Falcon 9 rocket – one of the most active in the world – to launch crew missions from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The astronauts themselves ride in a Dragon crew capsule – the only US spacecraft capable of carrying astronauts to and from the space station – that separates from the rocket in orbit.

What were NASA astronauts doing in the ISS?

Since their arrival more than five months ago, the Crew-11 astronauts have participated in scientific research aboard the International Space Station while assisting with routine station maintenance.

Perhaps most prominently, Crew-11 helped NASA prepare for its next Artemis human missions to the moon by conducting experiments to simulate landing scenarios that astronauts might encounter near the lunar South Pole.

In her downtime, Cardman also practiced her craft as a budding astral photographer, documenting celestial wonders like the aurora on Earth.

Cardman and Fincke were also scheduled to participate in a Jan. 8 spacewalk before the undisclosed medical issue prompted NASA to postpone it indefinitely. The spacewalk, which involved astronauts seeking to take part in an activity outside the space station, would have been Cardman’s first and Fincke’s 10th.

Had Fincke completed the spacewalk, he would have tied the record with Peggy Whitson for most spacewalks by a NASA astronaut.

Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What is Crew-11? Return date, what to know about SpaceX, NASA mission

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