Four astronauts will depart from the International Space Station (ISS) in a historic medical evacuation on January 15. According to NASA, the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft carrying the Crew-11 astronauts will undock from the station at 3:35 am IST [5:05 p.m. EST, Jan 14] and splashdown at 2:11 pm IST [3:41 am EST, Jan 15] off the coast of California on the same day.
Crew-11 astronauts suit up! Clockwise from bottom left, @NASA‘s Mike Fincke, Roscosmos’ Oleg Platonov, NASA’s Zena Cardman, and JAXA’s Kimiya Yui pose in their @SpaceX Dragon pressure suits aboard the station. pic.twitter.com/hOHE0Kreem
— International Space Station (@Space_Station) January 12, 2026
Where to watch the undocking live?
NASA’s live webcast will begin two hours prior to the scheduled undocking with the hatch closure at 1:30 am IST [3 pm EST]. The undocking coverage will begin at 3:15 am IST [4:45 pm EST] and the Dragon will separate from the station 20 minutes later.
You can watch the entire coverage on NASA+, Amazon Prime and the agency’s YouTube channel.
NASA’s Crew-11 evacuation
The station residents are departing earlier than planned due to a medical issue reported aboard the station. While it’s confirmed the concerned person is part of Crew-11, NASA has refused to share details about the astronaut and nature of illness due to privacy concerns. Crew-11 launched on August 1, 2025 and comprises of commander Zena Cardman, pilot Mike Fincke, and mission specialists Kimiya Yui and Oleg Platonov.
They were supposed to leave after the launch of Crew-12 astronauts in mid-February. However, the health crisis forced NASA to reconsider and end the mission early as a precaution.
On January 11, Fincke shared a LinkedIn post assuring that all members of Crew-11 are safe and stable. During the change of command ceremony yesterday, he called his exit “bittersweet” before handing over the station’s command to Russian cosmonaut Sergey Kud-Sverchkov.
Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, along with cosmonaut Sergei Mikaev and NASA’s Chris Williams, launched to the ISS on November 28, 2025. These three will be the only ones managing the orbital lab until they’re joined by the Crew-12 astronauts next month. “We’re leaving you all with a lot of work, but also with a lot of knowledge knowing that you guys are really going to do super well,” Fincke said during the ceremony. “Sergey, it’s an honor and a pleasure to be a commander, and I cannot imagine being happier than to hand over command to you.”
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