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The Story Is with Elex Michaelson

CNN's Breaking News Coverage on the Expected Splashdown of the SpaceX Crew-11 Astronauts Back to Earth. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired January 15, 2026 - 03:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[03:00:00]

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UNKNOWN (voice-over): This is CNN Breaking News.

ELEX MICHALELSON, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to the fourth hour of "The Story Is." We are on late for breaking news. I'm Elex Michaelson, live in Los Angeles.

That breaking news is in the skies above all of us. This is a live picture right now, two different shots on your screen.

On the left is the SpaceX Control Center here in Southern California in Hawthorne. On the right is the NASA Control Center in Houston, Texas. Both of them working together to try to bring the SpaceX capsule back to Earth safely.

About 40 minutes from now, it is supposed to splash down off the coast of Southern California. That Dragon capsule has begun what's known as the de-orbit burn, when it fires its engines for several minutes as it plunges back towards Earth for its final descent.

The four-person crew is coming home early, first time this has ever happened before because one of them is experiencing what's called a health concern. We don't know who that is or what that is. We'll see if we get more information on that later today.

That is a look at the four-person crew that is coming home. Two of them American, one of them Japanese, one of them Russian.

We don't know, again, if it's an American or Russian or Japanese who's experiencing this medical issue. We do know that all four of them went up together and all four of them are coming back down together. We have team coverage of this.

We're going to all watch this together in this next hour together, including our team coverage. We have Ed Lavandera, who is outside the space station in Houston at Johnson Space Center. We also have with us here in studio is Laurie Leshin, who is a professor of space futures at Arizona State University and the former leader at JPL here in Southern California.

Let's start with Ed, live from Johnson Space Center. Ed, what's going on there right now?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SR. U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, as you mentioned, that capsule beginning the deorbiting process and the burn starting to begin the process of getting ready to pass through the Earth's atmosphere. From everything that we've been monitoring and watching so far, everything seems to be going very smoothly.

We should point out that the trajectory of this capsule returning to Earth will bring the flight path of it -- will bring it right along the western coast of the United States. So if you are living along the California Pacific Coast there, there's a very good chance that you might see this capsule streaking through the night sky as it plunges back to Earth.

The capsule is expected to land in the Pacific Ocean just off the coast of San Diego, where there's a landing zone set up. They have Coast Guard ships, other ships ready to move toward the capsule once it has landed to get the crew out of the capsule. They'll recover the capsule as well.

And then that crew will be taken to a hospital in San Diego. And that is where the medical checkups and medical examinations will begin, especially for this one particular astronaut, whoever it might be, that needs medical attention. NASA officials have been saying over the last week when this decision was made to evacuate this crew early, about a month early -- earlier than this mission was supposed to have lasted, that the medical attention that this astronaut could receive on board the International Space Station was not enough and that they really needed to get this crew back down on the ground so that they could continue to conduct the medical evaluations that this astronaut needs.

So far, everything looking good. We're about 40 minutes or so away from this splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.

MICHAELSON: And NASA has described it as pristine conditions here in Southern California for this. Laurie, let's bring you in.

In the next minute or so, it's supposed to be what's called the trunk jettison. What is that?

LAURIE LESHIN, PROF. OF SPACE FUTURES, ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY: Well, thanks. That's the back half of what you're seeing in the picture on the screen there. So the capsule's on the top and the trunk is in the back.

And so that is what they use to bring things up to the space station. And it's an important part of the Dragon capsule. But it doesn't come back with it.

[03:05:05]

And so they need to jettison that. It's very important that it separates safely. And so that's what they'll be doing.

MICHAELSON: And once it's jettisoned, is that then just junk or do they find that somewhere and bring it?

LESHIN: It burns up.

MICHAELSON: It burns up.

But the Dragon capsule, and this was the big sort of innovation from Elon Musk, was designed to keep going up and down many different times, right?

LESHIN: You bet.

MICHAELSON: And so why, this is the splashdown, but sometimes it lands, it doesn't splashdown, right?

LESHIN: No, the Dragon has been a water landing always. The Soyuz capsule, the Russian capsule that the three astronauts that are remaining up on the station will use to come down, it lands on land.

Different capsules land in different ways. Both are possible.

MICHAELSON: So the separation is, we're being told, is now underway. That's what NASA is saying. So that's the next step of what's happening here.

And then the nose cone is going to be the focus in a few minutes. What's the significance of that?

LESHIN: So the jets that slow down the capsule, that allow it then to fall back to Earth, are at the nose of the capsule. And so the nose cone cover needs to close before the capsule reenters the atmosphere. So that will be, that's a very important thing that happens at this time as well.

MICHAELSON: Ed, what do we know in terms of the potential medical treatment that could be happening after today? We know every astronaut always is checked out, but what do we expect to see in the next hour?

LAVANDERA: Yes, well, it's going to take a while. I've watched a few of these recent returns of this particular capsule coming back from whatever mission it was on.

So there's a process there. You'll see these ships move into where the capsule is. The crew will then be taken off, put on a boat, and then quickly taken back to shore.

And that is a process that will take a little bit of time, but it's a process that's been done many times. But this one in particular, clearly there's a sense that these astronauts need to be taken to a hospital where this medical evaluation will continue. From what NASA officials have said, it sounds like there is a plan in place that everybody knows what exactly this particular astronaut is facing and what kind of medical attention that this person will need.

Obviously that is something that because of privacy issues and health privacy issues is not being shared with the public. But it is clear that between the local hospital there in San Diego, all of the medical teams involved with SpaceX and NASA, people are well briefed on what the situation is here and is ready to do what needs to be done to get this astronaut the treatment that is done. But this is also part of what is routine.

And as someone who is not part of the space industry, one of the interesting things about covering this and having had a chance to talk to several astronauts over the last few years about what it's like to return from space, I've always been struck by how so many different astronauts have very different experiences of what they felt, how they were impacted, not just in the initial moments after landing back on Earth, but that it could take, you know, what they experienced over the coming days and weeks, just apart from whatever this medical situation might be that requires urgent attention here at this moment.

But that is something that all of these astronauts are getting ready to deal with here in the next half hour or so. But what is really also striking too is that of the four members on this crew, two of them are completing their first space mission. So this feeling and this sensation that they are about to experience is something that will be very new to them, and I think that's rather striking as well at this moment.

MICHAELSON: Ed, thank you.

We want to bring into the conversation right now David Wolf, who knows a thing or two about problems in orbit. You are an astronaut and have been through that experience. Talk to us about what's going on in the minds of these astronauts right now.

So David Wolf is clearly has been to space and back, but having some problems with Zoom. So there you go.

We will hopefully get back to David Wolf as he logs into us. Is it working now?

I guess let's go.

Let's bring Laurie back into the conversation.

[03:09:58]

You know, it's going to be an interesting, we've talked to so many different astronauts about what Ed was just talking about, this adjustment of what it feels like when you are used to gravity, then all of a sudden you are not in it anymore. You are used to no gravity, but all of a sudden, oh my God, here's gravity again.

LESHIN: I've heard lots of stories over the years of astronauts just, you know, letting go of a glass in midair and expecting it to stay there, forgetting, right? Because when you're up there for six months, you get into that great routine.

MICHAELSON: The Wicked song, "Defying Gravity."

LESHIN: And think about, yes, and think about what they're going through right now, right? When they're up at the top of the atmosphere, they're going 17,500 miles an hour.

And when that first drug parachute comes out, they're already down to 350 miles an hour. And when the main parachutes come out, it's about 120 miles an hour. So they are slowing down a heck of a lot and not very much time.

So even the re-entry process itself, that's a big wake-up call to your body that, hey, guess what? Gravity's back.

MICHAELSON: Right, and we don't know what is going on with this particular astronaut or cosmonaut and how that process could impact any of these potential medical incidents or not.

LESHIN: Sure. I mean, I think, you know, obviously they wouldn't have chosen this path if they had a serious concern about the re-entry process. But it's not easy for astronauts in great health.

So certainly they'll be keeping a close eye on their colleague inside the capsule, I'm sure.

MICHAELSON: So the good news, again, that jettison process worked successfully, according to NASA. We're continuing to go down the line.

LESHIN: Great.

MICHAELSON: We expect to see live pictures shortly from the actual capsule. So we're going to watch that with you.

We're going to sneak in a commercial break and continue our live coverage of this from Hawthorne, from Houston, from Los Angeles, from all over the world. You're watching CNN.

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[03:15:00]

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MICHAELSON: We continue to follow breaking news. The SpaceX crew is on its way home. We see a live picture of the control rooms at both SpaceX and NASA as they are waiting this capsule, which is supposed to splash down in the next 20, 30 minutes or so.

We want to bring into the conversation now former NASA astronaut David Wolf, who joins us live right now from Houston. He spent more than 4000 hours in space, went to space four times, and is himself a medical doctor as well. David, as you watch this, what are you looking for at this moment?

DAVID WOLF, FORMER NASA ASTRONAUT: Well, I'm not seeing the picture that you're seeing, but from your description, you're watching all the instruments for any signs of an error or problem in its early phases and in coordination with mission control to resolve it should it creep up.

MICHAELSON: What's it like coming back to Earth? What's it like the first moment you step off and touch the ground for the first time?

WOLF: Yes, well, for one thing, you can finally fold your clothes again. You should try doing that in space.

I can't do it well on Earth, but I sure can't do it in space. But you smell, I was overwhelmed with the smell of grass and bushes. I felt like a dog must feel with all the odors.

That lasted a few hours. The weight of gravity is crushing. And when you've been able to fly for months and months, for the mere thought of it, you don't like losing that superpower.

MICHAELSON: You are a doctor in space. Not every crew has a doctor in it. Do you think it should?

WOLF: Not necessarily. Many things can be talked through, and these are not untrained altogether, just because they're not a physician. Not necessarily.

The system is meant, I was the chief engineer prior to being an astronaut of the medical system on the space station, the development, and it's meant to be operated by people of various levels of training. But it's good, obviously it's better, but you can't always satisfy every constraint.

MICHAELSON: I know when you were up there, there was a problem with a fire in the Mir space station. How did you go about dealing with that? What's it like when there's an unforeseen emergency up there?

WOLF: Yes, the fire happened just before I got there. I was on the cleanup crew, and so had the collision, and it had just occurred, and then it was my turn.

I was the power failure guy. We had three total power failures, and you don't know quiet until you've had a total power failure on a spacecraft.

MICHAELSON: Well, we thank you for your service to our country.

WOLF: It took, each time took three days to recover, and it happened on a Friday night. I don't know what's about that, but.

MICHAELSON: Yes. Well, our thanks to you for your service to our country, and thanks for staying up late with us. We appreciate it.

I want to bring in Dr. Farhan Asrar, a space medicine researcher. He's also an associate dean at Toronto Metropolitan University School of Medicine.

You study astronauts in space, and their medical conditions, and the impact that it has on them.

[03:20:05]

What are the steps to determine when or why a medical evacuation is needed? DR. FARHAN ASRAR, SPACE MEDICINE RESEARCHER, AND ASSOCIATE DEAN,

TORONTO METROPOLITAN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: Well, I can just carry on from what Dr. Wolf had indicated as well. So there are a number of steps already in place where all astronauts have a certain level of medical training to handle medical emergencies.

Even a crew member is designated to be a crew medical officer, and then any time such a scenario happens, they basically would be assessing the situation, trying to immediately manage it and stabilize it as much as they can. And then they do have, well, a 24-hour availability of spaceflight surgeons who are based on Earth connecting to the space station.

And then working through this, it is just determining whatever the situation is, could it be immediately resolved, it's cut, scrap, scrapes, needing some stitches, or needing certain medication that could be resolved, versus if it is something that could lead to a, let's say, urgency, it could impact the individual's health, and or needs, let's say, more immediate assessments, management, or diagnosis, that's when they would be determining if they would need a more immediate deorbit, versus a couple of days leading to a medical evacuation.

MICHAELSON: We're just hearing that so far, it appears that the touchdown is supposed to happen on time at 41 minutes after the hour, so that is good news. That means that this, everything is going as planned.

You've studied, Doctor, the sort of long-term impact of space on astronauts. What have you found? How does being in space impact these astronauts' health?

ASRAR: Well, space as a whole does put a significant, the extreme environment of space does impact the human body.

I mean, these are perfectly healthy, frequently tested, assessed astronauts, and literally when they go into space, they're losing muscle mass, even they're losing 1 to 1.5 percent of bone density in space as well. Comparatively, patients that are, let's say, seniors, or were on Earth, might be losing 1 and 1.5 percent in a year, whereas they would be losing it every month.

Additionally, there are like a number of other strains with microgravity, the radiation itself. Once these astronauts do arrive, we've also been seeing long-term impacts here as well where it could be impacting their vision, even their bone health, could it be increasing risk of fractures here on Earth, even long after they've returned.

So it definitely has a significant challenge and strain while they are in space, as well as after returning as well.

MICHAELSON: Well, today is a big day in the world of what you study, a landmark moment for space medicine, and it'll be interesting to see what we find out about this astronaut's condition, if anything at all. Dr. Farhan Asrar, thank you, I really appreciate you sharing your expert opinion.

We'll be right back. We're sneaking in a commercial break because when we come back, we expect the big moment to actually happen, and we don't want to have to go to commercial break for that. So we're going to be with you.

So stay with us, and we're going to watch this happen together.

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[03:25:00]

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MICHAELSON: CNN, live images from inside the Dragon capsule. Let's listen in to NASA and SpaceX.

(LIVE VIDEO FEED)

LEAH CHESHIER, NASA: But we're still getting great views right now.

KATE TICE, QUALITY ENGINEERING MANAGER, SPACEX: I love this view over their shoulders because you can see what our pilot and commander can see. They're continuing to follow along with Dragon's progress.

As Leah mentioned, we have designed the spacecraft to be completely autonomous. Dragon is flying itself, so they are able to monitor along with everything that's going on.

I also want to momentarily point out on the bottom of your screen there, you have some graphical interfaces there.

(LIVE VIDEO FEED ENDS)

MICHAELSON: So this is a live picture, and we just went to black because that was expected as we bring back in Laurie Leshin, who once ran JPL. They are now in a blackout period where kind of nobody knows what's going on. Why is that?

LESHIN: Well, the plasma from the heat shield that's, as they're racing through the atmosphere coming back down towards the surface, kind of blocks our ability to talk to them for just about five or six minutes. So it's been something that's been true for the whole space program, and it's always a nail-biting time, but we'll see them on the other side.

MICHAELSON: So these images we're looking at now are just from a few moments ago from inside, because right now there are no live images. That's got to be nerve-wracking for the folks at SpaceX and at NASA right now.

LESHIN: Sure, always is, and yet you trust the people and trust the process and trust gravity to do its thing and know that you've got a good ship.

MICHAELSON: And at this point, the good news is everything is working well.

LESHIN: Beautifully.

MICHAELSON: There was a communication at one point that one of the astronauts wanted to adjust their glasses.

LESHIN: Right. They called down to Mission Control to say, I'm raising my visor so I can adjust my glasses.

[03:30:10]

So, you know, they're being very communicative, which is good.

MICHAELSON: Yes, and describe what we're seeing inside that capsule. It's pretty wild to see it.

LESHIN: It's cozy, right? They're all strapped into their seats, the four of them, along a single line. And you can see they've got very modern displays.

If you remember seeing what the Space Shuttle used to look like or, God forbid, the Apollo capsules.

MICHAELSON: With all the buttons and everything.

LESHIN: This is all touch screen, very modern, and they're really seeing the status of their capsule in real time.

MICHAELSON: And it kind of looks like a Tesla in a little way.

LESHIN: Yes, with no steering wheel.

MICHAELSON: Yes, because it's Elon Musk who helped to design both of these things.

LESHIN: You bet.

Cady Coleman joins us now, retired astronaut, spent a lot of time up in the International Space Station herself, and has been through this process of reentry. She did it with the Russian Soyuz. But as you look at those images, I'm curious, when you were coming back down to Earth, what was going through your mind in these final minutes?

CADY COLEMAN, RETIRED NASA ASTRONAUT: Well, one funny thing, which is the voice of my commander up on the Space Station, Scott Kelly, saying, Okay, Coleman, when those chutes come out, you have to make sure you are not talking. Because it's a really abrupt stop.

And I've heard it's a little gentler than the SpaceX, but it is just where they suddenly slow down so much, you feel as if you just stop.

And for the Soyuz, it's on a single cable there. It's swinging and spinning, and he called it the best e-ticket ride, which it very much was. It's a little gentler in the SpaceX, but it will still wake them up, that's for sure. MICHAELSON: Yes, it will. So we are going to sneak in one more commercial break, and we're going to do it while we're in this blackout. So if there's any time to miss, it's a time when we're not seeing anything.

When we come back from the break, we should have some incredible live pictures, as all of this is going to happen before our eyes. So stay with us. You're watching CNN.

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[03:35:00]

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MICHAELSON: This is a live picture from our roof here in Burbank. That right there is the SpaceX capsule moving over Southern California live in real time. So the second largest city in America is getting a free show tonight.

Watch it literally flying over Hollywood right now, over the Warner Bros. studio. That's Griffith Park that we're looking at, Universal Studios, as it now heads towards the end of L.A. County, Orange County, San Diego County, expected to land somewhere off the coast of San Diego. Pretty amazing that that is what we are seeing literally outside our door here.

Let's see if we can take some live pictures from NASA as well.

As we expect, that splashdown is coming soon. It's expected to happen at about 12:41 local time here on the West Coast.

And that is the live picture from NASA. And look at that thing streaking through the sky.

Laurie Leshin from ASU, formerly head of JPL. Usually this happens during the day. It's quite spectacular, though, to see it at night.

LESHIN: It's fantastic. I'm thrilled that your camera picked it up because I was hoping to be out on my own patio watching it tonight.

MICHAELSON: I know, you kind of got that experience.

LESHIN: I know. It was great to see. It was great to see.

MICHAELSON: I mean, it is wild when we see these things. We think here in Southern California when the space shuttle was put into the, you know, brought and flew around.

It is a reminder that space kind of brings us together as a human people, not even just Americans, I mean, Russians and everybody else, in a way that nothing else does.

LESHIN: You bet. I mean, sitting there watching that streak and the four people sitting inside that capsule have been on the space station for five months. They've been in space, living in space. It's truly incredible what we can do as a planet when we collaborate

and work together.

MICHAELSON: Yes. So this was from just moments ago, and this was our camera. So we're going to watch this again. This was from moments ago.

It started when we were in commercial break, and you saw some of this, but this was a nice job by our team here operating this camera in real time as we watch this sort of, it's not crazy fast looking at it there. I mean, almost like a, you know, a shooting star or something, but just moving across the side.

LESHIN: Little capsule, really long tail of flame behind it there.

MICHAELSON: Yes.

LESHIN: That's really incredible.

MICHAELSON: Which shows just how fast and how high.

LESHIN: 3000 degrees peak heating.

MICHAELSON: 3000 degrees.

LESHIN: Six times hotter than your heaven gets, you know. It's really hot.

MICHAELSON: And these guys withstand all of this. Let's see if we can listen in to the NASA feed.

(LIVE VIDEO FEED)

CHESHIER: Any moment now. I think she was probably saying drug.

I expect a drug parachute any moment.

(LIVE VIDEO FEED ENDS)

MICHAELSON: So, Ed Lavandera, in these final moments, what do we expect to see?

LAVANDERA: Well, they were just coming out of that communication blackout, and you guys got quite the show there. Very jealous of, we do not have that view here from the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Just a dark sky. So a spectacular shot there. As you can see, that capsule moving toward the south end.

We'll be landing here, I think, in the next three minutes just off the coast of San Diego. And there's a splash zone that has been set up. There's Coast Guard ships, there are other ships there in the water waiting to move into the area once the capsule has landed there in the water.

And then they will begin the process of, there will be a crew out there that will essentially, if it goes the way I've seen it happen before, they're dousing the capsule. And it's been through some moments.

MICHAELSON: Ed, I'm going to interrupt you for a second. Let's listen in to the final moments, and then we'll talk on the other side. Let's take it to NASA.

(LIVE VIDEO FEED)

CHESHIER: -- and around 6000 feet.

There we can see visual confirmation of deployment of the four mains.

UNKNOWN: Visual, four healthy mains.

CHESHIER: These main parachutes help decelerate the spacecraft even further. So they deploy around 119 miles per hour, and they'll decelerate it down to about 15, 16 miles per hour. And that will be the speed in which the spacecraft is traveling upon splashdown.

[03:40:08]

Once again, we're anticipating splashdown at 12:41 a.m.

UNKNOWN: Copy, 1000.

CHESHIER: We'll now begin to hear Crew 11 Commander Zena Cardman call out the altitude from her seat there in Dragon Endeavor.

SpaceX's mission control team in Hawthorne continues to report the precise landing coordinates to the recovery team.

UNKNOWN: Copy, 800.

CHESHIER: Those main parachutes now fully reefed or inflated. We ensure that the parachutes inflate over a few seconds to help reduce the shock to the system.

UNKNOWN: Copy, 600.

CHESHIER: All around great views of Dragon Endeavor as it continues its way back to Earth.

UNKNOWN: Copy, 400. Crew are braced.

TICE: Standing by for splashdown.

(LIVE VIDEO FEED ENDS)

MICHAELSON: And we are moments away, what appears to be from splashdown, as we look at these final moments.

And here comes the big, and there it is, a successful splashdown.

(LIVE VIDEO FEED)

TICE: Splashdown of Crew 11. After 167 days in space, Dragon and NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, Kimiya Yui of JAXA and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov are back on Earth.

UNKNOWN: Dragon, SpaceX, we see splashdown.

ZENA CARDMAN, NASA ASTRONAUT: SpaceX, Dragon, copy, two-thirds, splashdown and mains are cut. We are in 4.800.

UNKNOWN: SpaceX copies and we see the same, mains cut. On behalf of SpaceX and NASA, welcome home, Crew 11.

CARDMAN: SpaceX, Dragon, it's so good to be home. With deep gratitude to the teams who got us there and back.

UNKNOWN: Vehicle safety verifications in progress. We'll report back when recovery personnel are en route.

(LIVE VIDEO FEED ENDS)

MICHAELSON: Laurie Leshin, you get emotional watching this, huh?

LESHIN: Yes, it's always good to have them back safely on the ground, and in this case especially, given the relatively rapid way we decided to bring them home. So, very glad that they made it down safely and they'll be able to get the medical attention needed.

MICHAELSON: Cady Coleman, a former NASA astronaut, watching this along with us from New Mexico. I know you've got a big smile on your face.

COLEMAN: It's really wonderful to watch, and just coming through the sky, I'm so glad that you all got to see that. I have seen it over Houston before, when the shuttle was on its way home to Florida. And it's just amazing when you realize there are really people in space, and that was them coming home.

And they're us. They're four people from three different countries.

MICHAELSON: In your case, they're really us, as a former astronaut.

COLEMAN: Well, they're definitely family. It's a big family, and the family includes everybody that gets them home. So, it was just great to watch together, and really cool to see it go across the sky above your building.

[03:45:00]

MICHAELSON: It's kind of tough to see from this picture, but it's possible that there are some dolphins that are swimming around them right now. It certainly looks like that. It's kind of hard to tell, but that's quite a homecoming, huh?

COLEMAN: Definitely. They've certainly done it before.

MICHAELSON: Yes. So, we're looking at this from different perspectives, different live pictures as they now -- so, what's next, Cady? What's the process now?

COLEMAN: Well, they'll basically attach a hoist to the capsule, tow it over to the ship, and get the capsule on board the ship. That all happens actually pretty quickly, probably in the next 10, 15 minutes or so.

And then, the flight surgeons will be the first people to go in, and that's standard for every crew, not just this one. And just making sure that everybody's okay, and then they put the crew out one by one. They'll be on the ship, I think, it takes about an hour to sort of do all that. It's something like that kind of timing.

And then, they'll take them ashore, which is standard to bring everybody to a facility and get checked out. And so, I believe they'll all go to the same hospital. And then, I'm not sure, but I think then they all fly to Houston. The whole process, they probably would be getting on a plane to Houston in about four hours or so.

MICHAELSON: And Laurie Leshin, wasn't it amazing the sort of precision they're able to tell you exactly what minute it's going to come, and almost exactly where it's going to hit, and both of them hit exactly?

LESHIN: Well, we sort of pride ourselves on that kind of thing, I guess I will say. Because you just want to make sure that there are no surprises in these missions. And of course, then you've got to be ready if something's going wrong, too.

So, the fact when it goes so incredibly smoothly like this, it's wonderful to see. And that's a huge team, as Cady said, a huge team of people behind these four brave astronauts.

MICHAELSON: And Ed Lavandera, they must be breathing a sigh of relief in that building behind you right now.

LAVANDERA: Right, you know, this is obviously Johnson Space Center where the NASA astronauts do much of their work. Obviously, a huge community of people here paying very close attention to all of this. And people here working in the overnight hours to make sure that everything went smoothly here.

And at least in previous missions like this, the astronauts eventually will be back here for all of the post-flight debriefs and meetings that need to take place. So, that will begin to happen in the coming days. And I was struck, Elex, when you mentioned possibly seeing some dolphins.

I can't make it out on the monitor that I'm watching, but it was, remember a couple years ago, it was Crew 9 that landed in the Gulf waters off the coast of Florida that were welcomed back to Earth with a pod of dolphins swimming around the capsule as the crews moved in to pluck it out of the water. And those dolphins became kind of a viral sensation on that day.

So, not uncommon for the wildlife out there in the water to kind of get a kick out of what they're seeing as well. So, I haven't been able to see what you saw there, but I'm watching on a much smaller monitor out here in the field.

MICHAELSON: Yes, and I'm sure the dolphins, like all of us, got the free show too. Probably.

LESHIN: They're smart.

MICHAELSON: Okay, so here comes the boat right now that we're looking at. This is the crew that's being put out there to rescue them. Cady, what's the interaction like with them when they open up this door and you're in that seat? How does that go?

COLEMAN: Well, actually, these guys are just going to attach cables to the capsule, and then it gets towed over to the ship. And so, they're not going to open that door until this capsule is actually physically on the ship.

MICHAELSON: Got it. And so, who is on that ship?

COLEMAN: There will be certainly a representative from the astronaut office, some of their trainers, but there's mostly people that are trained in search and rescue and how to get that job done. Certainly, flight surgeons will be on the ship, and then folks that know how to deal with the vehicle itself and make sure that the SpaceX capsule is safe to be used again for another mission.

MICHAELSON: Dr. Farhan Asrar has studied extensively space medicine. Talk to us about the medical checkups that are about to happen imminently when these astronauts are first seen and then over the long term.

[03:50:05]

ASRAR: Well, right after splashdown, they're usually, like I would say, it's kind of like in two steps. The first is the initial medical assessment. So, it's quite detailed just seeing how they're doing.

Obviously, the whole reentry process also takes a strain on the body as well. So, it's overall just seeing they're stabilized, things are good to go. And then after that, as they are being then transferred to a designated facility, they'll continue to be checked and monitored from there, though, as well.

And additionally, they would basically just kind of continue to be monitored. In this specific case, also just keeping an eye out on the specific medical concern that a particular astronaut may have. From then on, it's just a whole process of reconditioning and rehabilitation.

The astronauts have been quite deconditioned in terms of just the strain of being in space for quite a while. And it's really kind of trying to bring them back to their baseline. And following that is just the long-term monitoring process, just to see if there are any long-term complications or challenges that might persist or impact their health as a whole.

MICHAELSON: As we continue to look at these live pictures, it's been interesting. They've been going back and forth between the night vision.

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When you see just how dark it is, and they shine these lights on this Dragon capsule to try to bring that closer to the boat that has all of the crew members on it. And that's when they will take the crew out of this Dragon capsule, which is reusable.

Laurie Leshin, that was the whole point of this, right? To make space cheaper. That was part of Elon Musk's whole vision of this, that we've got to be able to go up and back and keep using the same capsules so that we can do it more often.

LESHIN: You bet. And we'll be launching another crew to the space station in only a month. Not in this capsule, but in another of the SpaceX reusable capsules.

The current plan for Crew 12 is to go up in just a few weeks' time, and we're even seeing if it's possible to accelerate that. Don't know that that will happen yet. NASA hasn't decided.

And, of course, they won't do it unless they're completely confident in it. But even if they go on time, it's still only a few weeks away. So it's really amazing how often we are launching.

MICHAELSON: And they didn't end up doing a spacewalk that they were supposed to do to help work on solar panels. What happens to that work?

LESHIN: So it'll get probably passed on to the next crew to work on. They won't be able to do it now until the Crew 12 crew gets up there and they're back up to full crew complement on station.

But it is part of an ongoing program of upgrades to the solar arrays they're working on, and so they'll get it rescheduled. Although, again, there's specific training that goes along with that, so they'll have to make sure that whoever does it is trained for it.

MICHAELSON: Ed Lavandera, as we check back in with you at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, we expect to hear from NASA officials later today, right?

LAVANDERA: Yes, I think probably in about an hour or so, there's a press briefing and an update scheduled. So by then, presumably, the astronauts will have been definitely hoisted up onto the ship there, probably already out of the capsule and well on their way back to getting on shore there in the San Diego area.

And then we'll start getting an opportunity to ask some questions of the officials involved in this capsule return back to Earth. So that is scheduled to happen here before the sun rises on the east coast and central time as well.

MICHAELSON: We don't know, Ed, if they will disclose any information in terms of this medical condition. They may say nothing at all.

LAVANDERA: Yes, no, I think it's, you know, while this is the first time that they've had to do a medical evacuation of this magnitude and in this way, there have been other medical situations that have happened on other missions as well.

And we just are told about it in very kind of like vague, broad information about, you know, the kind of vague description of what a particular astronaut was facing. Because of health privacy issues, a lot of that isn't disclosed specifically about which astronaut is affected. So it's very likely that we will not know exactly who is suffering or dealing with a medical issue here at this point.

But we'll see just how much and how willing NASA officials are to share or maybe shed some more light on what kind of conditions that they're facing that forced them to make this decision just last week to bring this crew back early.

[03:55:05]

MICHAELSON: Yes, and Garrett Reisman, a former astronaut who joined us earlier tonight, said it really will likely be up to the astronaut. And if the astronaut feels, I want to come forward with this, it's important for me to share this, then that's more likely to happen. But we don't know if the astronauts will be interested in doing that or not.

I want to bring Cady Coleman back into the conversation as the astronaut on this panel who has been through this. I'm just sort of a fun question for you. What was the most fun thing about coming home? What was the thing that you missed the most? What was sort of on your checklist as you were up there?

You're thinking, this is what I most want to do when I get home.

COLEMAN: I'll tell you, when I was up there, I felt like Earth would still be here when I got home. And I wished for every delay possible.

I would have spent another six months up there if I could. And, you know, my family understood that and, you know, a little disappointed to hear it sometimes probably. But once you're coming home, I mean, I just wanted to see my family and sons that were up there and also 27.

And just really just a husband and friends and just to sit around in your living room and get to actually just talk to your friends and talk about things that happened up there. And then actually just to be not just looking at the view, but part of the view. I really like that.

MICHAELSON: And what was your favorite food that you missed?

COLEMAN: I'm going to say pizza because I was up there with an Italian. So pizza was a big subject of discussion. And in fact, we flew home from Russia.

So we stopped a couple of times, took about 24 hours to get home. And we stopped in Maine for gas on the way back to Houston. And we got pizza.

MICHAELSON: Very nice. Laurie Leshin, as we bring you back as somebody who oversee JPL, which is so focused on the future of space exploration, both with humans, without humans. Kind of what's next when it comes to space? Where are we going to boldly go where we've never gone before?

LESHIN: Yes, I mean, 2026 was really supposed to be the year of the moon because we're getting ready to launch the Artemis 2 mission, which is going to, for the first time since Apollo, take astronauts out beyond low Earth orbit and out to encircle the moon, basically.

They're not going to land on this trip. But that's so exciting. And it's coming up within just a few weeks as well.

But of course, getting this crew home safely, getting Crew 12 up to station is so important. And then we've got a lot of great robotic missions to the moon planned this year as well.

MICHAELSON: So this is our first look at the ship.

LESHIN: Yes, that's where they'll come back.

MICHAELSON: That they're so going to lift that capsule up into that spot there, right? And then they will open up the door and then we will see those astronauts for the first time.

When we saw them, you know, the video feed of them coming down, it certainly didn't look like anybody was particularly ill or anything. Nothing looked unusual, right?

LESHIN: They really seemed fine. Yes. So hopefully, and again, fine with a, we've been in space for five months and we're back in the crushing of Earth's gravity.

So everybody feels that. So, you know, things, you'll see some people moving a little funny probably as they get out of the capsule. But that's totally normal and the medical folks are there to help support them in their readjustment.

MICHAELSON: As we're about to wrap things up for this hour, a final thought from you?

LESHIN: Well, I'm just so thankful that the crew has made it back safely. Really want a, you know, hopeful for the whatever crew member went through the medical incident that they get the treatment they need.

And then looking forward to an exciting year in space. And once we are back on the moon, off to Mars we go.

MICHAELSON: Cady, a final thought from you?

Cady, I don't know if you can hear us, Cady. A final thought from you?

I guess we've lost--

UNKNOWN: Are you speaking to me?

MICHAELSON: I was, yes. A final thought from you, maybe in 20 seconds or so.

UNKNOWN: Is that from Cady?

MICHAELSON: Okay, it's gone so well up until this point.

Well, I've got a minute left and I just want to thank everybody for being with us for the last four hours of coverage here on "The Story Is."

To me, there is nothing like space and it is incredible. It reminds us how small we are, how we all are interconnected and that there is more that unites us than divides us. And also the incredible brain power at NASA and around the world.

[04:00:01]

And it also, in this time of division between Russia and the U.S. and all of the conflict, it has been amazing to see how this brings people together as well and that we all work together.

So thank you so much for watching our coverage. Rahel Solomon will pick up their coverage after this, after a quick break. I'm Elex Michelson, in Los Angeles.

Job well done, SpaceX and NASA. Thanks for watching.

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