The space trip had to be cut short because one of the astronauts developed a ‘serious medical condition’
Good Morning Britain was paused for breaking news as the four astronauts who left the International Space Station due to a serious medical condition returned home.
The crew’s journey had to be cut short because one of the astronauts had a medical issue, and they splashed back down to Earth as Kate Garraway and Richard Madeley were hosting the ITV show on Thursday (January 15).
The pod landed in the water in California, and was opened to reveal astronauts Mike Fincke, Zena Cardman, Kimiya Yui and Oleg Platonov sat inside.
The astronauts’ stay on the International Space Station was cut short by a month due to illness. It isn’t known which member of Crew 11 was unwell.
The Space Station’s Instagram had announced the return journey, posting on Instagram: “NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 mission undocked from the International Space Station’s Harmony module aboard the Dragon spacecraft at 5:20 pm. EST today.
“NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke with JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov will return to Earth aboard Dragon during a parachute-assisted splashdown off the coast of California at 3:41 am EST on Thursday.”
Kate told viewers: “This is the first medical evacuation of its kind since the station was opened in 1998 and the challenge of it is absolutely extraordinary.”
As they watched the landing unfold, Richard said: “It looks as if they are safely back on Earth. We don’t know what the nature of the medical problem was but as you say Kate, it is the first time that this has ever happened to the Space Station. That they have all had to come back because one of them has been taken ill basically.”
He went on to say that the crew commander, Mike Fincke, had described their return home as “bittersweet”.
He went on: “And meanwhile, back up on the International Space Station, there’s a skeleton crew of three, and that’s going to be keeping essential services running until the SpaceX launch in the next few weeks brings four fresh astronauts to serve a new six-month term on the orbiting laboratory.”
