In an unprecedented move, NASA is bringing an astronaut crew home early from the International Space Station because one astronaut has an undisclosed medical condition.

Crew-11 mission from the International Space Station. Crew Dragon Endeavour and its crew of four — comprised of two NASA astronauts, one Japanese astronaut, and one Russian cosmonaut — are scheduled to splashdown in the Pacific Ocean a few hours later at 12:40 AM PST (08:40 UTC) on Thursday,

With Crew-11 set to depart shortly, command of the ISS will fall to Russian cosmonaut Sergey Kud-Sverchkov. He'll remain on the station with fellow Soyuz travellers, NASA astronaut Chris Williams and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergei Mikaev. They will be the only crew aboard the station until SpaceX Crew-12 launches in February.

Instead of remaining at the International Space Station (ISS) for the full duration of their mission, the four crew members are coming home a month early due to a medical issue with one of the astronauts.

A medical issue prompted the first-ever emergency return from the International Space Station, which was put into Earth's orbit in 1998.

The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft is set to splash down off Southern California following a rare medical evacuation from orbit.

SpaceX’s Crew-11 is returning from the International Space Station (ISS) early due to a medical concern with one of its astronauts. It’s the first recorded case in which NASA has decided to bring home a crew member ahead of time due to a health issue.

All four Crew 11 fliers looked healthy and in good spirits on a space-to-ground television broadcast of the change of command ceremony with no indication of which astronaut may have experienced the undisclosed medical issue that triggered Crew 11's early departure.