Crew-11 Exits Dragon After Splashdown: First Look at Post-Mission Egress and Medical Checks

Crew-11 Returns to Earth

• 🚀 Crew-11 has successfully returned to Earth after 167 days in space, with splashdown occurring at 2:41 a.m. Central time off the coast of San Diego.
• ⏱️ The crew egress began approximately 40 minutes after splashdown, following standard procedures for post-mission recovery.

Spacecraft Egress Procedures

• 🧑‍🚀 Crew members are assisted out of the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft by recovery teams.
• 🩺 They are then moved to initial medical checks onboard the recovery ship, a standard protocol after long-duration missions.
• 📦 Items like footrests were removed from the spacecraft to facilitate easier crew exit.

Crew Member Departures

• 👨‍⚕️ NASA astronaut Mike Fincke was the first to exit, heading for medical checks. He has accumulated 549 total days in space, ranking fourth all-time for NASA astronauts.
• 👩‍🚀 Commander Zena Cardman, wrapping up her first space mission, was the next to egress.
• 👨‍🚀 JAXA astronaut Kimiya Yui, who has now reached 300 days in space across two missions, followed Cardman.
• 🇷🇺 Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov is expected to be the final crew member to exit the spacecraft.

Comparison to Soyuz Returns

• 🛰️ The process is similar to returns on a Soyuz spacecraft, where astronauts are carried from the capsule to chairs and then to a medical tent.
• 🌍 This marks the end of Crew-11's mission from the International Space Station, having undocked on January 14th.