Astronauts land at sea after medical evacuation on the International Space Station
Four astronauts returned to Earth this Thursday (15), parachuting into the Pacific Ocean, near San Diego, after leaving the International Space Station (ISS) earlier than planned.
The crew, who were traveling in a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, were expected to return only next month, after the arrival of a replacement group. But a medical problem with one of the astronauts last week made NASA decide to bring forward the return. The agency classified the operation as a “controlled medical evacuation” — the first time in 25 years of continuous occupation of the ISS that someone has left the station for health reasons.
Boeing knew of failures in UPS cargo plane that crashed in the US, agency says
In a report released Wednesday, the National Transportation Safety Board NTSB said the cracks that apparently caused the left engine to detach from the plane’s wing had happened at least four other times in previous cases.
Chinese ship with surveillance capabilities creates discomfort for Brazilian military personnel
The vessel was authorized to dock in September 2025, but caused discomfort to the Navy and Itamaraty
The capsule undocked from the ISS at around 5:20 pm in the USA, 7:20 pm in Brasília, on Wednesday (14), for a journey of around nine hours in orbit. At 2:51 am on Thursday, 4:51 am in Brasília, the ship activated the thrusters to begin reentry.
Made for you!
With parachute, the capsule descended into calm Pacific waters near San Diego, at 3:41 am (5:41 am in Brasília). It was then hoisted onto the deck of a SpaceX recovery ship. The hatch opened after 4am, and the astronauts left around 4:30am.
Zena Cardman and Michael Fincke, from NASA, returned to Earth; Kimiya Yui, from Jaxa, the Japanese space agency; and Oleg Platonov, from Roscosmos, the Russian space agency. They spent 167 days in space on this mission.
To preserve the crew’s privacy, NASA did not say who had the health problem or what the diagnosis was. The agency only said that the astronaut is stable. In the live broadcast of the capsule rescue, the four appeared to be fine.
Everyone left the capsule on stretchers, something considered standard procedure after long stays on the ISS.
Jared Isaacman, NASA administrator, said in an interview at the Johnson Space Center in Houston that the “crew member of concern is fine.” According to another NASA director, Joel Montalbano, the four will spend the night in a hospital in the San Diego region before heading to Houston this Friday (16).
