WASHINGTON: Four astronauts docked at the International Space Station&nbsp;(ISS) on Sunday for a months-long research mission, replacing a crew forced to return to Earth early over a <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/iss-crew-splashes-down-on-earth-after-medical-evacuation-nasa-video" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">medical issue</a>. The US space agency&#39;s <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/international-crew-en-route-to-space-station" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Crew-12</a> arrived at the orbiting laboratory after a journey of about 34 hours that started with blastoff from Cape Canaveral, Florida aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. &quot;We have bridged the legacy of humankind&#39;s continuous presence in space spanning more than 25 years at this very site,&quot; American astronaut Jessica Meir said after docking at the ISS. &quot;As we look back at Earth from these windows, we are reminded that cooperation is not just possible, it is essential. Up here, there are no borders and hope is universal.&quot; Other members of Crew-12 are American Jack Hathaway, French astronaut Sophie Adenot and Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev. The foursome are replacing Crew-11, which returned to Earth in January a month earlier than planned in the first medical evacuation in the space station&#39;s history. The ISS, which orbits 400 kilometers above Earth, has since been staffed by a skeleton crew of three. <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/nasa-to-send-humans-to-moon-after-five-decades" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">NASA</a>&nbsp;declined to disclose any details about the health issue that cut the previous mission short. Crew-12 will be one of the last crews to live aboard the football field-sized space station. Continuously inhabited for the last quarter-century, the aging ISS is scheduled to be pushed into Earth&#39;s orbit before crashing into an isolated spot in the Pacific Ocean in 2030. Microgravity and the human body During their eight months on the outpost, the astronauts will conduct many experiments, including research into the effects of microgravity on their bodies. Meir, who previously worked as a marine biologist studying animals in extreme environments, will serve as the crew&#39;s commander. Adenot has become the second French woman to fly into space, following in the footsteps of Claudie Haignere, who spent time on the Mir space station. Among other research, she will test a system that uses artificial intelligence and augmented reality to allow astronauts to carry out their own medical ultrasounds. &quot;I am proud to bring France and Europe along on this incredible adventure that transcends borders,&quot; Adenot said. &quot;Count on me to share every step with you and bring a sparkle to the eyes of the French people.&quot; The <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/nasa-moves-moon-rocket-to-launch-pad-for-artemis-2-mission" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">ISS</a>, once a symbol of warming post-Cold War relations, has been a rare area of continued cooperation between the West and Russia since Moscow invaded Ukraine in 2022. However, the space station has not entirely avoided the tensions back on Earth. In November, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev &ndash; who had long been planned to be a member of Crew-12 &ndash; was suddenly taken off the mission. Reports from independent media in Russia suggested he had been photographing and sending classified information with his phone while training at a SpaceX facility. Russian space agency Roscosmos merely said he had been transferred to a different job. His replacement, Fedyaev, has already spent some time on the ISS as part of Crew-6 in 2023.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the company's Dragon spacecraft on top launches from Space Launch Complex 40 for the Crew-12 mission at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on February 13, 2026. (AFP)

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Four astronauts arrived at the International Space Station for an eight-month mission, replacing a crew that returned early for medical reasons, as the aging outpost nears its planned retirement in 2030.

Crew-12 docks at ISS for months-long research mission

WASHINGTON: Four International Space Station (ISS) crew members splashed down in the Pacific Ocean early Thursday, video footage from NASA showed, after a medical issue prompted their mission to be cut short. The SpaceX Dragon capsule carrying the four crew members --&nbsp;American astronauts Mike Fincke and Zena Cardman, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, and Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui -- landed off the coast of San Diego about 12:41 a.m. (0841 GMT), marking the first-ever medical evacuation from the ISS. First-ever medical evacuationThe US space agency has declined to disclose which&nbsp;crew member has the health problem or provide details about the issue, but it has stressed that the return is not an <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/nasa-to-bring-spacex-crew11-back-early-over-medical-concern" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">emergency</a>. The affected crew member &ldquo;was and continues to be in stable condition,&rdquo; NASA official Rob Navias said Wednesday. &ldquo;First and foremost, we are all OK. Everyone on board is stable, safe and well cared for,&rdquo; Fincke, the pilot of SpaceX Crew-11, said previously on social media. &ldquo;This was a deliberate decision to allow the right medical evaluations to happen on the ground, where the full range of diagnostic capability exists. It&rsquo;s the right call, even if it&rsquo;s a bit bittersweet,&rdquo; he added in a post this week. The Crew-11 quartet arrived at the ISS in early August and had been scheduled to stay on board until they were rotated out in mid-February with the arrival of the next crew. James Polk, NASA&rsquo;s chief health and medical officer, said &ldquo;lingering risk&rdquo; and a &ldquo;lingering question as to what that diagnosis is&rdquo; led to the decision to bring back the crew earlier than originally scheduled. American astronaut Chris Williams and Russian cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev, who arrived at the station in November aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft, remained on the ISS. The Russian Roscosmos space agency operates alongside NASA on the outpost, and the two agencies take turns transporting a citizen of the other country to and from the orbiter &mdash; one of the few areas of bilateral cooperation that still endures between the United States and Russia.

This screengrab taken from NASA+ livestream shows the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft with parachutes deployed before splash down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego, California, on January 14, 2026, carrying NASA astronauts Mike Finck

Four International Space Station (ISS) crewmembers splashed down in the Pacific Ocean early Thursday, video footage from NASA showed, after a medical issue prompted their mission to be cut short.

NASA video: International Space Station crew returns to Earth after medical evacuation

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ISLAMABAD: NASA and SpaceX will return the four astronauts of the Crew-11 mission from the International Space Station (ISS) on Jan. 14, cutting short their stay aboard the space station following a medical issue involving a crew member, the US space agency said on Monday.<div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=2010797683796070660&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Farticles%2Fnew%2F&sessionId=384c2a3b4c5180f70fba7affb93efc2f29ddfa48&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 667px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;">&nbsp;</iframe></div></div>NASA said the decision was taken after consultations with flight surgeons and mission managers, concluding that the astronaut would be better evaluated and treated on Earth. The agency described the move as a precautionary medical return, stressing that the crew member is in stable condition and that the spacecraft and station remain safe. &ldquo;This is the first time in the International Space Station&rsquo;s 25-year history that a mission has been ended early for medical reasons,&rdquo; a NASA spokesperson said, calling the step &ldquo;unprecedented&rdquo; but necessary to prioritize the astronaut&#39;s health. Crew-11 launched to the ISS aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft in August 2025 for a mission originally expected to last about six months. The crew includes NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Michael Fincke, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov. NASA said it would not disclose the identity of the affected astronaut or details of the medical condition, citing privacy rules. Officials emphasized that there was no emergency aboard the station and that the return would follow standard procedures. The Crew Dragon spacecraft is scheduled to undock from the ISS on Jan. 14, with a splashdown off the US West Coast expected the following day, weather permitting. Recovery teams will be on standby, and NASA plans to conduct post-landing medical evaluations and briefings after the crew returns. NASA said the early departure would not significantly disrupt space station operations. Other astronauts and cosmonauts currently aboard the ISS will continue routine research and maintenance work. The agency added that it is reviewing whether adjustments are needed to the schedule for upcoming crew rotations.

Official portrait of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 to the International Space Station: from left, Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov; NASA astronaut Mike Fincke; JAXA astronaut Kimiya Yui; and NASA astronaut Zena Cardman. (Image: SpaceX)

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The astronauts are scheduled to depart the International Space Station on Jan. 14, weeks ahead of schedule, after doctors advised Earth-based evaluation, marking the first such health-related early return in the station’s 25-year history.

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Crew-12 docks at ISS for months-long research mission

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