NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 has successfully made its way back to Earth during an extraordinary ISS medical evacuation, splashing down off the coast of California on Thursday morning.

Touching down in the Pacific Ocean near San Diego at 3:41 a.m. ET / 12:41 a.m. PT, a Dragon capsule brought back four astronauts safely from the International Space Station following a 167-day mission. NASA’s Commander Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, alongside Japan’s Kimiya Yui and Russia’s Oleg Platonov, landed punctually, as confirmed by NASA, and were retrieved by a SpaceX recovery team standing by.

You can view the splashdown on NASA’s YouTube livestream (around the 1:30:00 mark).

While the capsule awaited the SpaceX recovery team, a couple of playful dolphins appeared right beside it:

Adorable! Credit: NASA / YouTube

The crew’s return date was advanced due to health concerns regarding one of the crew members, whose identity NASA has kept private throughout all official communications. Mashable space journalist Elisha Sauers provided an in-depth examination of NASA’s inaugural medical evacuation from the ISS. Per NASA, the crew member “remains stable,” and noted in a press statement, “Due to medical privacy, it is not suitable for NASA to disclose further information about the crew member.”

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After being lifted aboard the SpaceX recovery vessel, all four astronauts exited the capsule with assistance from the crew and were then promptly taken to a medical tent aboard. NASA indicated that they are scheduled to be evaluated at a local hospital overnight before being transferred to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston for additional assessment.

NASA Commander Zena Cardman emerging from the landed Dragon capsule. Credit: NASA / YouTube

Crew-11 departed Earth on Aug. 1, 2025, from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida and has since engaged in research and experiments aimed at facilitating future human missions to Mars and the moon.