NASA has announced an unprecedented early return for the four-member SpaceX Crew-11 mission from the International Space Station (ISS) due to an undisclosed medical concern affecting one of its astronauts. This event, confirmed by multiple credible sources, marks the first time in the ISS's 25-year history that a crew has been evacuated for medical reasons. The Crew-11 astronauts, Zena Cardman and Michael Fincke of NASA, Kimiya Yui of JAXA, and Oleg Platonov of Roscosmos, originally launched to the ISS on August 1, 2025, for a planned six-month mission. Their return was initially scheduled for mid-February 2026, but the medical issue prompted NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman to accelerate their departure. Officials emphasized that the affected astronaut is in stable condition, and this is considered a controlled medical evacuation, not an emergency, to allow for better medical treatment on Earth. SpaceX is actively preparing the Dragon spacecraft for undocking from the ISS no earlier than Wednesday, January 14, 2026, with splashdown anticipated early Thursday, January 15, 2026, off the coast of California. This timeline is subject to prevailing weather conditions in the recovery area and the readiness of the spacecraft and recovery teams. The early departure of Crew-11 will temporarily leave the ISS with a reduced crew of three astronauts: NASA's Christopher Williams and Russian cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikayev. NASA is reviewing options to potentially expedite the launch of the Crew-12 mission, but it is unlikely to arrive before Crew-11's return. Despite the logistical adjustments, NASA has stated that the medical evacuation will not impact the timeline for the upcoming Artemis 2 moon mission.