Nasa has issued a major update on a historic evacuation from the International Space Station after a medical emergency on board.
The space agency has confirmed the four-person Crew-11 team are set to depart no earlier than Wednesday at 5pm ET (10pm GMT).
A SpaceX Dragon capsule carrying the astronauts is expected to splash down off California's coast around 3.40am on Thursday, January 15.
This marks the first time a crew has been evacuated ahead of their scheduled departure from the ISS.
Nasa chief Jared Isaacman blamed the sudden exit on a "serious medical condition" affecting one astronaut, which will require treatment back down on Earth.
Crew will depart the orbital outpost roughly one month earlier than planned.
The team comprises Nasa duo Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov.
Nasa has declined to identify which crew member fell ill over privacy concerns.
Nasa has confirmed exactly when the four-person Crew-11 team will leave the International Space Station
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"Due to medical privacy, it is not appropriate for Nasa to share more details about the crew member," the agency said.
Nasa's chief medical officer Dr James Polk confirmed the affected spaceman remains in "stable" condition.
Dr Polk added that their medical issue was unrelated to any accident aboard the station or their work in space.
"It's mostly having a medical issue in the difficult areas of microgravity," he told a press conference on Thursday.
Officials said the Dragon capsule's hatch will close at approximately 3.30pm on Wednesday, with undocking procedures beginning at 4.45pm.
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Nasa's Chris Williams and Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata will man the ISS until Crew-12 arrive
| GETTYThe journey back to Earth will take around seven hours from the moment Crew-11 leaves the station.
"Deorbit" is scheduled for roughly 2.50am on Thursday morning.
During this phase, the crew will briefly fire the capsule's engines to reduce speed, allowing gravity to pull the spacecraft back towards Earth.
Without this braking manoeuvre, the Dragon would continue orbiting forever.
SpaceX, which manufactures the Dragon capsules used for transporting Nasa astronauts and cargo, confirmed the evacuation plan on social media.
The SpaceX Dragon capsule (pictured) carrying the astronauts is expected to splash down off California's coast around 3.40am on Thursday
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Crew-11 arrived at the ISS on August 1 last year, with their return originally scheduled for late February.
Nasa had planned for the astronauts to depart after their Crew-12 replacements arrived around February 15.
Mr Isaacman said no decision has yet been made on whether Crew-12's launch will be brought forward.
Nasa astronaut Chris Williams and Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata, who reached the station via a Russian Soyuz spacecraft in November 2025, will keep the lights on in orbit until then.