Astronauts splash down on Earth after first-ever medical evacuation
The crew’s mission on the International Space Station was cut short by over a month
19:07
FULL EVENT: astronauts head back to Earth in Nasa’s first medical evacuation
Four International Space Station (ISS) crew members splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on Thursday, Nasa footage showed, after the first ever medical evacuation in the orbital lab’s history.
A video feed from Nasa showed the capsule carrying American astronauts Mike Fincke and Zena Cardman, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov and Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui land off the coast of San Diego at 12.41am local time.
A health issue prompted their mission to be cut short, after spending five months in space.
The US space agency has declined to disclose any details about the health issue but stressed the return was not an emergency situation.
The affected crew member “is doing fine,” Nasa Administrator Jared Isaacman told reporters after the splashdown.
Isaacman said only that the crew member experienced “a serious medical condition” that “could have happened on Earth completely outside of the microgravity environment”.