Los Angeles, United States - January 15, 2026 01/15/2026 12:30 am GMT-0800 DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES, LOS ANGELES, Calif. – A SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule carrying four astronauts returned to Earth early Thursday after an unprecedented medical evacuation from the International Space Station, splashing down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Southern California. The spacecraft Endeavour undocked from the orbiting laboratory on Wednesday at approximately 5:20 p.m. EST and completed a roughly 10.5-hour journey home. It performed a deorbit burn around 2:51 a.m. EST Thursday, enduring fiery atmospheric reentry before deploying parachutes for a targeted splashdown at 3:41 a.m. EST (12:41 a.m. PST) near San Diego. NASA astronauts Zena Cardman (commander) and Mike Fincke (pilot), Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov had been aboard the station since launching Aug. 1, 2025, for what was planned as an approximately six-month mission. The crew’s 167-day stay ended weeks ahead of schedule due to a serious but stable medical condition affecting one unnamed crew member. NASA announced the early return on Jan. 8, citing the need for ground-based diagnostic tools unavailable on the station, while emphasizing privacy concerns prevented disclosure of the individual’s identity or specific ailment. Officials described it as a “medical evacuation” rather than an emergency, marking the first time a U.S.-led crewed mission to the ISS has been curtailed for health reasons. Recovery teams from SpaceX were positioned to retrieve the capsule and assist the astronauts, who were to undergo initial medical evaluations post-splashdown. Live coverage of the event was provided by NASA and SpaceX. Key News Network captured re-entry over the skies of downtown Los Angeles.