An ailing astronaut returned to Earth with three others on Thursday, ending their space station mission more than a month early in NASA’s first medical evacuation.

SpaceX guided the capsule to a middle-of-the-night splashdown in the Pacific near San Diego, less than 11 hours after the astronauts exited the International Space Station. Their first stop was a hospital for an overnight stay.

“Obviously, we took this action (early return) because it was a serious medical condition,” NASA’s new administrator Jared Isaacman said following splashdown. “The astronaut in question is fine right now, in good spirits and going through the proper medical checks.”

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 developed the health problem last week 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.

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The astronauts emerged from the capsule, one by one, within an hour of splashdown. They were helped onto reclining cots and then whisked away for standard medical checks, waving to the cameras. Isaacman monitored the action from Mission Control in Houston, along with the crew’s families.

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NASA launch: SpaceX Crew-11 arrives at International Space Station

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NASA decided a few days ago to take the entire crew straight to a San Diego-area hospital following splashdown and even practiced helicopter runs there from the recovery ship. The astronaut in question will receive in-depth medical checks before flying with the rest of the crew back to Houston on Friday, assuming everyone is well enough. Platonov’s return to Moscow was 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.

Spacewalk preparations did not lead to the medical situation, Isaacman noted, but for anything else, “it would be very premature to draw any conclusions or close any doors at this point.” It’s unknown whether the same thing could have happened on Earth, he added.

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.

Isaacman said it’s too soon to know whether the launch of station reinforcements will take priority over the agency’s first moonshot with astronauts in more than a half-century. The moon rocket moves to the pad this weekend at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center, with a fueling test to be conducted by early next month. Until all that is completed, a launch date cannot be confirmed; the earliest the moon flyaround could take off is Feb. 6.

For now, NASA is working in parallel on both missions, with limited overlap of personnel, according to Isaacman.

“If it comes down to a point in time to where we have to deconflict between two human spaceflight missions, that is a very good problem to have at NASA,” he told reporters.

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Troops from several European countries, including France, Germany, the UK, Norway and Sweden, are arriving in Greenland in a show of support for Denmark as talks between representatives of Denmark, Greenland and the U.S. on Wednesday highlighted “fundamental disagreement” between the Trump administration and European allies on the future of the Arctic island.

Denmark announced it would increase its military presence in Greenland on Wednesday and several European partners started sending symbolic numbers of troops on that day, just as the Danish and Greenlandic foreign ministers were preparing to meet with White House representatives in Washington.

The troop movements were intended to portray unity among Europeans and send a signal to U.S. President Donald Trump that an American takeover of Greenland is not necessary as NATO together can safeguard the security of the Arctic region amid rising Russian and Chinese interest.

“The first French military elements are already en route” and “others will follow,” French President Emmanuel Macron announced Wednesday, as French authorities said about 15 soldiers from the mountain infantry unit were already in Nuuk for a military exercise.

Germany will deploy a reconnaissance team of 13 personnel to Greenland on Thursday, its Defence Ministry said.

On Thursday, Danish Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said the intention was “to establish a more permanent military presence with a larger Danish contribution,” according to Danish broadcaster DR. He said soldiers from several NATO countries will be in Greenland on a rotation system.

Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, flanked by his Greenlandic counterpart Vivian Motzfeldt, said Wednesday that a “fundamental disagreement” over Greenland remains with Trump after they held highly anticipated talks at the White House with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Rasmussen added that it remains “clear that the president has this wish of conquering over Greenland” but that dialogue with the U.S. would continue at a high level over the following weeks.

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‘Totally unacceptable’: Denmark, Greenland ministers rebuke Trump’s takeover rhetoric after meeting

Inhabitants of Greenland and Denmark reacted with anxiety but also some relief that negotiations with the U.S. would go on and European support was becoming visible.

In Greenland’s capital, Nuuk, local residents told The Associated Press they were glad the first meeting between Greenlandic, Danish and American officials had taken place but suggested it left more questions than answers.

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Several people said they viewed Denmark’s decision to send more troops, and promises of support from other NATO allies, as protection against possible U.S. military action. But European military officials have not suggested the goal is to deter a U.S. move against the island.

Maya Martinsen, 21, agreed and said it was “comforting to know that the Nordic countries are sending reinforcements” because Greenland is a part of Denmark and NATO.
The dispute, she said, is not about “national security” but rather about “the oils and minerals that we have that are untouched.”

On Wednesday, Poulsen had announced a stepped-up military presence in the Arctic “in close cooperation with our allies,” calling it a necessity in a security environment in which “no one can predict what will happen tomorrow.”

“This means that from today and in the coming time there will be an increased military presence in and around Greenland of aircraft, ships and soldiers, including from other NATO allies,” Poulsen said.

Asked whether the European troop movements were coordinated with NATO or what role the U.S.-led military alliance might play in the exercises, NATO referred all questions to the Danish authorities. However, NATO is currently studying ways to bolster security in the Arctic.

Rasmussen, the Danish foreign minister, announced the creation of a working group with the Americans to discuss ways to work through differences.

“The group, in our view, should focus on how to address the American security concerns, while at the same time respecting the red lines of the Kingdom of Denmark,” he said.

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Denmark vows to increase military presence in Greenland after Trump says U.S. ‘needs’ the country

Commenting on the outcome of the Washington meeting on Thursday, Poulsen said the working group was “better than no working group” and “a step in the right direction.” He added nevertheless that the dialogue with the U.S. did not mean “the danger has passed.”

“We are really happy that action is being taken to make sure that this discussion is not just ended with that meeting alone,” Greenlandic MP Aki-Matilda Høegh-Dam said on Thursday during a news conference in Copenhagen.

She said Greenlandic people understood they were a “pivotal point” in a broader transformation of the international rules-based order and that they felt responsible not just for themselves but also for the whole world to get it right.

Høegh-Dam said the military operations should not happen “right next to our schools and right next to our kindergartens.”

Line McGee, a 38-year-old from Copenhagen, told AP that she was glad to see some diplomatic progress. “I don’t think the threat has gone away,” she said. “But I feel slightly better than I did yesterday.”

Speaking to FOX News Channel’s Special Report on Wednesday after the White House talks, Rasmussen rejected both a military takeover and the potential purchase of the island by the U.S. Asked whether he thinks the U.S. will invade, he replied: “No, at least I do not hope so, because, I mean, that would be the end of NATO.”

Rasmussen said Greenlanders were unlikely to vote for U.S. rule even if financial incentives were offered, “because I think there’s no way that U.S. will pay for a Scandinavian welfare system in Greenland, honestly speaking.”

“You haven’t introduced a Scandinavian welfare system in your own country,” he added.

Trump, in his Oval Office meeting with reporters, said: “We’ll see how it all works out. I think something will work out.”

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A Canadian citizen has died in Iran, Global Affairs Canada told Global News as the protests against the Iranian regime have intensified over the last few days.

“Global Affairs Canada is aware of a Canadian citizen who died in Iran. We express our condolences to the family and loved ones during this difficult time,” a spokesperson for GAC said.

As of Wednesday, there were 3,054 Canadian citizens and permanent residents registered in Iran, the spokesperson said.

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However, they added that since registration with GAC is voluntary, the actual number may be outdated.

Canada does not have diplomatic relations with Iran.

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Iran’s embassy in Ottawa defaced by anti-regime protesters, one arrested

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