NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 mission touched down safely early Thursday morning in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego, concluding a more than five-month mission aboard the International Space Station.
NASA astronauts Zina Cardman and Mike Finke, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui and Roscosmos astronaut Oleg Platonov returned to Earth at 12:41 a.m. PT. Teams aboard SpaceX’s recovery ships recovered the spacecraft and its crew shortly after landing.
“I couldn’t be prouder of our astronauts and the teams on the ground at NASA, SpaceX, and across our international partnerships,” said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman. “Their professionalism and focus have kept the mission on track, even with the revised schedule. Crew-11 has completed more than 140 science experiments that advance human exploration. Missions like Crew-11 demonstrate the capability inherent in America’s space program — our ability to bring astronauts home as needed, launch new crews quickly, and continue to advance human spaceflight as we prepare for our historic Artemis II mission, from low Earth orbit to the Moon and eventually to Mars.”
Crew 11 returned home approximately a month earlier than scheduled due to a medical issue being monitored by teams with one crew member who remains in stable condition. Due to medical privacy, it is not appropriate for NASA to share more details about the crew member. Before returning, NASA coordinated in advance to transport all four crew members to a local hospital for additional evaluation, while utilizing medical resources on Earth to provide the best possible care.
After a planned overnight hospital stay, the crew members will return to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston and undergo standard post-flight regeneration and evaluation procedures.
The Crew-11 mission lifted off at 11:43 a.m. EDT on August 1, 2025, from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. About 15 hours later, the crew’s SpaceX Dragon spacecraft docked at the orbital outpost at 1:27 a.m. CST on August 2.
During their 167-day mission, the four crew members traveled nearly 71 million miles and completed more than 2,670 orbits of Earth. The Crew-11 mission was Fincke’s fourth spaceflight, Yui’s second, and Cardman and Platonov’s first. Finke has logged 549 days in space, ranking him fourth among all NASA astronauts for cumulative days in space.
Along the way, Crew-11 logged hundreds of hours of research, maintenance and technology demonstrations. Crew members also celebrated the 25th anniversary of continued human presence aboard the orbiting laboratory on November 2, 2025. Research conducted aboard the space station advances scientific knowledge and demonstrates new technologies that enable us to prepare for human exploration of the Moon and Mars.
NASA’s Commercial Crew Program provides reliable access to space, increasing use of the International Space Station for research and development by partnering with private U.S. companies, including SpaceX, to transport astronauts to and from the space station.
Learn more about NASA’s Commercial Crew Program at:
https://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew
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Joshua Finch/Jimmy Russell
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov / james.j.russell@nasa.gov
Sandra Jones/Joseph Zakrozewski
Johnson Space Center in Houston
281-483-5111
sandra.p.jones@nasa.gov / joseph.a.zakrzewski@nasa.gov
Stephen Sisilov
Kennedy Space Center, Florida
321-867-2468
steven.p.siceloff@nasa.gov