Four astronauts are set to leave the International Space Station on Wednesday evening, weeks earlier than planned, in a first-of-its-kind departure due to a medical issue.NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov will return to Earth in the same SpaceX Dragon capsule that they flew to the space station. The group, known as Crew-11, is scheduled to undock at around 5:05 p.m. ET.It will be the first time in the space station’s 25-year history that a mission is cut short because of a medical problem that arose in orbit. NASA officials have not provided details about the affected crew member or the nature of the medical issue, citing medical privacy concerns. The agency has, however, said the situation is stable and not considered an emergency evacuation.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“First and foremost, we are all OK,” Fincke wrote on LinkedIn over the weekend. “Everyone on board is stable, safe, and well cared for. This was a deliberate decision to allow the right medical evaluations to happen on the ground, where the full range of diagnostic capability exists. It’s the right call, even if it’s a bit bittersweet.”If undocking occurs as planned, the Crew-11 astronauts are expected to splash down in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of California, at approximately 3:41 a.m. ET on Thursday. The roughly 11-hour journey will include a deorbit burn to slow the spacecraft before it plunges through Earth’s atmosphere and lands with parachutes in the water.Cardman, Fincke, Yui and Platonov arrived at the International Space Station in August and were slated to stay until late February. But NASA revealed last week that a crew member had experienced a medical incident while at the orbiting outpost, prompting the agency to call off a spacewalk in which Cardman and Fincke were to perform upgrades to the exterior of the station. Days later, agency officials announced their decision to bring the crew home about a month early as a precautionary measure.“After discu …
