SpaceX capsule with four astronauts, one ailing, splashes down safely off California

A still image obtained from social media footage released on January 11, 2026, by JAXA astronaut Kimiya Yui, showing colours of the aurora over Earth, as seen from NASA's International Space Station (ISS). JAXA/Kimiya Yui

LOS ANGELES, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Four astronauts returned safely ‌to Earth early on Thursday after an undisclosed serious medical condition affecting one of them forced an end to their International Space Station mission ‌a few weeks early.

Their SpaceX capsule splashed down in the Pacific off California, capping a 10-hour-plus descent from the space station and fiery ‌re-entry through Earth's atmosphere.