LOS ANGELES, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 astronauts departed the International Space Station (ISS) on Wednesday, starting their journey back to Earth.
The four-member crew left the orbital laboratory earlier than originally planned after one of the astronauts living and working aboard the ISS experienced a medical issue last week.
The spacecraft autonomously undocked from the ISS at 5:20 p.m. Eastern Time. The crew is scheduled to splash down off the coast of California at about 3:41 a.m. Thursday, following an approximately 10-hour journey.
The crew consists of NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov.
They arrived at the ISS on Aug. 2 last year and had originally been scheduled to remain aboard the station for about six months. ■