A SpaceX capsule departed the International Space Station on Wednesday carrying a four-member crew on an emergency return flight to Earth, necessitated by an undisclosed serious medical condition afflicting one of the astronauts aboard.
The Crew Dragon capsule carrying two U.S. NASA astronauts, a Japanese crewmate and a Russian cosmonaut undocked from the space station and began its descent from orbit at about 5:20 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.
It was headed for a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the California coast early Thursday. If all goes as planned, the capsule dubbed Endeavor will parachute into the sea following a return flight of about 10½ hours, capped by a fiery reentry through Earth’s atmosphere, concluding a 167-day mission.