NASA will bring a four-person astronaut crew back to Earth early due to medical issues on Wednesday, the first time this has happened in the history of the International Space Station (ISS).
The four are to undock from the ISS aboard a Crew Dragon operated by SpaceX, the company of tech billionaire Elon Musk, NASA said.
Around 11 hours later, US astronauts Zena Cardman and Michael Fincke, Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov are to splash down in the sea off the coast of the US state of California.
Last week, NASA cancelled a spacewalk at the ISS at short notice due to the health problems of a crew member, then announced that because of the issue it would bring the entire four-strong crew back to Earth early.
NASA has declined to comment on the identity of the crew member or details of the health problems. The crew member is in a stable condition.
"Crew 11" has been aboard the ISS since early August and was originally expected to remain there for a few more weeks.
