A SpaceX capsule carrying a four-member crew home from orbit in an emergency return to earth necessitated by an undisclosed serious medical condition afflicting one of the astronauts splashed down safely early on Thursday (15 January) in the Pacific Ocean off California.
The Crew Dragon capsule parachuted into calm seas off San Diego at about 12:45 a.m. EST (0845 GMT), capping a 10-hour-plus descent from the International Space Station and fiery re-entry through Earth's atmosphere, carried live by a joint NASA-SpaceX webcast.
A SpaceX capsule departed the International Space Station on Wednesday (14 January) carrying a four-member crew on an emergency return flight to Earth necessitated by an unspecified serious medical condition afflicting one of the astronauts aboard.
The capsule was carring two U.S. NASA astronauts, a Japanese crewmate and a Russian cosmonaut. It undocked from the space station and began its descent from orbit at about 5:20 p.m. EST (2220 GMT).
Live video from a NASA webcast of the departure showed the capsule separating from the ISS and drifting away from the orbiting laboratory as the two vehicles soared some 260 miles (418 km) over the Earth south of Australia.
The plan to bring all four members of Crew-11 home a few weeks ahead of schedule was announced 8 January, with NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman saying one of the astronauts faced a "serious medical condition" that required immediate medical attention on the ground.
NASA officials have not identified which of the four crew members was experiencing a medical issue or described its nature, citing privacy concerns.
The crew consists of U.S. astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov. They arrived at the space station following a launch to orbit from Florida in August.
As the Ukraine war is highlighted by some leaders during the United Nations' 81st General Assembly meetin...
The 81st UN General Assembly returns for its third day in New York on Thursday, with world leaders delivering high-level speeches and holding diplo...
Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remained low on Thursday, as Iran reiterated that it will neither enter into new negotiations with th...
As the Ukraine war is highlighted by some leaders during the United Nations' 81st General Assembly meeting in New York, Russian forces attacked the Ukrainian capital Kyiv early on Thursday with ballistic missiles, killing two people and injuring six, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.
Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remained low on Thursday, as Iran reiterated that it will neither enter into new negotiations with the United States nor re-open the Strait as long as its conditions are not met, despite recent indirect talks in New York mediated by Qatar.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is set to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in New York on Wednesday, as Washington pushes for an end to the war in Ukraine and Kyiv and Moscow continue to strike energy infrastructure.
U.S. President Donald Trump said his team held a three-hour meeting with an Iranian delegation in New York that he described as “very good” and “productive”, with another round of talks scheduled soon.
The 81st UN General Assembly continues in New York on Wednesday, with another day of high-level speeches and diplomatic meetings. The wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, global security and international cooperation remain at the centre of discussions.
As the Ukraine war is highlighted by some leaders during the United Nations' 81st General Assembly meeting in New York, Russian forces attacked the Ukrainian capital Kyiv early on Thursday with ballistic missiles, killing two people and injuring six, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.
The 81st UN General Assembly returns for its third day in New York on Thursday, with world leaders delivering high-level speeches and holding diplomatic meetings. Restoring trust, managing global transformation, peace and security, and international cooperation remain at the centre of discussions.
Australia says an OpenAI AI agent gained unauthorised access to a government Medicare statistics portal in June, in what officials say could be an unprecedented case of an AI system breaching a government network.
Pakistan says it carried out air strikes on 10 locations in Afghanistan on Thursday, targeting sites it said were used to store and launch drones, as tensions between the two neighbouring countries continued to escalate.
Here’s your AnewZ Daily Brief for 24 September 2026, with five key developments from the second day of the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York.
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