Space station evacuation lights up California sky — as astronaut returns to Earth with mystery illness

Four NASA astronauts splashed down off the coast of San Diego early Thursday after their mission was cut short due to medical issues, with their spacecraft seen streaking across the sky from San Francisco to Los Angeles.

The return marked the first time a NASA crewed mission ended ahead of schedule. At 3:41 a.m. ET, the spacecraft safely brought the Crew-11 astronauts back to Earth, NASA said.

All crew members are undergoing routine medical screenings, and the astronaut who experienced the medical issue is in stable condition. The agency said it will release additional information as it becomes available.

The mission logged nearly 850 hours in space. NASA confirmed during a news conference that this was the first instance in which the agency returned a crew ahead of schedule for unknown medical reasons.

“It’s so good to be home,” said NASA astronaut Zena Cardman, the capsule commander.

It was an unexpected finish to a mission that began in August and left the orbiting lab with only one American and two Russians on board.

NASA and SpaceX said they would try to move up the launch of a fresh crew of four; liftoff is currently targeted for mid-February.

NASA’s Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke were joined on the return by Japan’s Kimiya Yui and Russia’s Oleg Platonov.

Officials have refused to identify the astronaut who had the health problem or explain what happened, citing medical privacy.

While the astronaut was stable in orbit, NASA wanted them back on Earth as soon as possible to receive proper care and diagnostic testing.

The entry and splashdown required no special changes or accommodations, officials said, and the recovery ship had its usual allotment of medical experts on board.

It was not immediately known when the astronauts would fly from California to their home base in Houston. Platonov’s return to Moscow was also unclear.

NASA stressed repeatedly over the past week that this was not an emergency.

The astronaut fell sick or was injured on Jan. 7, prompting NASA to call off the next day’s spacewalk by Cardman and Fincke, and ultimately resulting in the early return.

It was the first time NASA cut short a spaceflight for medical reasons.

The Russians had done so decades ago.

The space station has gotten by with three astronauts before, sometimes even with just two.

NASA said it will be unable to perform a spacewalk, even for an emergency, until the arrival of the next crew, which has two Americans, one French and one Russian astronaut.

With Post wires.