#crew dragon

Crew 11 will be returning early due to medical concerns for an unspecified astronaut onboard station. More details and a return date to follow. This will be a first for the ISS.

Medical issues have happened onboard the orbiting laboratory, ranging from skin rashes to stomach upsets and everything in-between, and thus the ISS maintains a large suite of first aid equipment including things like aspirin and epinephrine. There's even a backboard for stabilizing and methods developed to perform CPR in microgravity.

Was going to insert a Sun Tzu quote but I thought it might be too on the nose.

"A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the company's Dragon spacecraft on top stands vertical on the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026, ahead of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 launch. NASA’s Artemis II SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion spacecraft can be seen in the background at the Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39B ahead of the agency’s Artemis II launch. Together, these two missions represent NASA’s ongoing efforts to advance human spaceflight, marking a pivotal moment for missions to the International Space Station, the Moon, and beyond."

Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

Date: February 11, 2026

Starship, Crew Dragon, Space Shuttle and Tesla Cybertruck size comparison

The remainder of the crew’s time in orbit was spent carrying out nearly 40 science experiments and research, including some that sought to better understand space adaptation syndrome — a type of microgravity-specific motion sickness.

Gillis, a trained violinist, also brought her instrument along for the mission and delivered a rendition of “Rey’s Theme” from “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.”

Gillis’ music was sent back to Earth using SpaceX’s Starlink as a test of the satellite network’s potential to provide in-space connectivity.

Menon also took time to read a book she coauthored — called “Kisses From Space” — to her family as well as a group of patients from St. Jude Children’s Hospital as part of a fundraiser.

Sunday’s anticipated return marks the conclusion of the third trip to space for the specific Crew Dragon capsule powering the Polaris Dawn mission.

The spacecraft — named “Resilience” by the NASA astronauts onboard its first trip to space in November 2020 called (Crew-1) — flew the 2021 Inspiration 4 mission.