NASA to livestream Crew-11 undocking and planned splashdown off California

NASA will livestream the undocking and splashdown of SpaceX Crew‑11 from the International Space Station, with undocking planned no earlier than 5:05 p.m. EST on Wednesday, Jan. 14, if weather permits. On Jan. 8 NASA announced it would bring the Crew‑11 members back to Earth earlier than planned while teams monitor a medical issue affecting a crew member currently living and working aboard the orbital laboratory.

NASA said the crew member is stable but, citing medical confidentiality, declined to share further details. The astronauts scheduled to return are NASA’s Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, JAXA astronaut Kimiya Yui and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov; splashdown is planned off the coast of California at 3:41 a.m.

on Thursday, Jan. 15. Mission managers said they continue to monitor recovery-area conditions because Dragon undocking depends on spacecraft operational status, recovery-team readiness, weather, sea state and other factors, and that NASA and SpaceX will select a specific time and location closer to undocking.

NASA’s English live coverage will stream on NASA+, Amazon Prime and the agency’s YouTube channel. The agency posted a schedule: Wednesday coverage begins at 3 p.m. EST, hatch closure at 3:30 p.m., undocking coverage begins at 4:45 p.m. and undocking is planned for 5:05 p.m.; after undocking NASA will distribute audio-only crew and flight‑controller communications during Dragon’s departure.

Key Topics

Science, International Space Station, Nasa, Dragon Spacecraft, Zena Cardman, Mike Fincke