Friday, January 09, 2026

NASA & SpaceX Target Date for Crew-11 Earth Return | International Space Station

NASA & SpaceX Target Date for Crew-11 Earth Return | International Space Station

 International Space Station Configuration. Seven spacecraft are parked at the space station including the SpaceX Dragon cargo craft, the SpaceX Crew-11 Dragon spacecraft, JAXA’s HTV-X1 cargo craft, Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus cargo craft, the Soyuz MS-28 crew ship, and the Progress 92 and 93 resupply ships.

NASA and SpaceX are targeting no earlier than 5 p.m. EST, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, for the undocking of the agency’s SpaceX Crew-11 Mission spacecraft from the International Space Station, pending weather conditions. 

On Jan. 8, NASA announced its decision to return the agency’s SpaceX Crew-11 mission to Earth from the space station earlier than originally planned as teams monitor a medical concern with a crew member currently living and working aboard the orbital laboratory that remains stable. Due to medical privacy, it is not appropriate for NASA to share more details about the crew member. 

NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov of Russia will splash down off the coast of California at approximately 3:40 a.m. on Thursday, Jan. 15.

Mission managers continue monitoring conditions in the recovery area, as undocking of the SpaceX Dragon depends on spacecraft readiness, recovery team readiness, weather, sea states, and other factors. NASA and SpaceX will select a specific splashdown time and location closer to the Crew-11 spacecraft undocking. 

NASA’s coverage is as follows (all times Eastern and subject to changed based on operations): 

Wednesday, Jan. 14 
3 p.m. – Hatch closure coverage begins
3:30 p.m. – Hatch closing 
4:45 p.m. – Undocking coverage begins
5 p.m. – Undocking

Thursday, Jan. 15 
2:15 a.m. – Return coverage begins
2:50 a.m. – Deorbit burn 
3:40 a.m. – Splashdown 
5:45 a.m. – Return to Earth media news conference

NASA will set share more details about its coverage plans in the coming days.


Follow Expedition 74:

Expedition 74 Crew
Station Commander: Mike Fincke (NASA)
JAXA Flight Engineer (Japan): Kimiya Yui
Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Oleg Platonov, Sergey-Kud Sverchkov, Sergei Mikaev
NASA Flight Engineers: Zena Cardman, Chris Williams

Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center
Release Date: 
Jan. 9, 2025

#NASA #Space #ISS #Science #Planets #Earth #SpaceXCrew11 #Spacewalks #EVA #Astronauts #MikeFincke #ZenaCardman #KimiyaYui #CrewHealth #AstronautHealth #UnitedStates #Japan #JAXA #UnitedStates #Cosmonauts #OlegPlatonov #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #SpaceLaboratory #InternationalCooperation #Expedition74 #STEM #Education

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