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US: Bright Streak Observed Over California as SpaceX Crew-11 Re-enters

A bright streak was observed across the night sky over Southern California early Thursday, January 15 as the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule carrying four astronauts made its fiery re-entry before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean off San Diego. The capsule returned NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, along with Japan’s Kimiya Yui and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, ending the Crew-11 mission about a month early due to a non-emergency medical condition affecting one crew member. NASA said the astronaut was stable and brought back to Earth for further evaluation.

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NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 Splashdown

Handout Photo shows NASA astronaut Mike Fincke helped out of the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft onboard the SpaceX recovery ship SHANNON after he, NASA astronaut Zena Cardman, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov landed in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Long Beach, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. Cardman, Fincke, Yui, Platonov are returning after 167 days in space as part of Expedition 74 aboard the International Space Station. Photo by Bill Ingalls/NASA via ABACAPRESS.COM

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NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 Splashdown

Handout Photo shows JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui is helped out of the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft onboard the SpaceX recovery ship SHANNON after he, NASA astronauts Mike Fincke, Zena Cardman, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov landed in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Long Beach, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. Cardman, Fincke, Yui, Platonov are returning after 167 days in space as part of Expedition 74 aboard the International Space Station. Photo by Bill Ingalls/NASA via ABACAPRESS.COM

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NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 Splashdown

Handout Photo shows Support teams onboard the SpaceX recovery ship SHANNON work around the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft shortly after it landed with NASA astronauts Zena Cardman, Mike Fincke, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov aboard in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Long Beach, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. Cardman, Fincke, Yui, Platonov are returning after 167 days in space as part of Expedition 74 aboard the International Space Station. Photo by Bill Ingalls/NASA via ABACAPRESS.COM

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NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 Splashdown

Handout Photo shows Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov is helped out of the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft onboard the SpaceX recovery ship SHANNON after he, NASA astronauts Mike Fincke, Zena Cardman and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui landed in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Long Beach, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. Cardman, Fincke, Yui, Platonov are returning after 167 days in space as part of Expedition 74 aboard the International Space Station. Photo by Bill Ingalls/NASA via ABACAPRESS.COM

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NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 Splashdown

Handout Photo shows NASA astronaut Zena Cardman is helped out of the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft onboard the SpaceX recovery ship SHANNON after she, NASA astronaut Mike Fincke, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov landed in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Long Beach, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. Cardman, Fincke, Yui, Platonov are returning after 167 days in space as part of Expedition 74 aboard the International Space Station. Photo by Bill Ingalls/NASA via ABACAPRESS.COM

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NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 Splashdown

Handout Photo shows Support teams raise the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft aboard the recovery ship SHANNON shortly after it landed with NASA astronauts Zena Cardman, Mike Fincke, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov aboard in thePacific Ocean off the coast of Long Beach, Calif.,Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. Cardman, Fincke, Yui, Platonov are returning after 167 days in space as part of Expedition 74 aboard the International Space Station. Photo by Bill Ingalls/NASA via ABACAPRESS.COM

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NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 Splashdown

Handout Photo shows Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, left, NASA astronauts Mike Fincke, Zena Cardman, and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui are seen inside the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft onboard the SpaceX recovery ship SHANNON shortly after having landed in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Long Beach, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. Cardman, Fincke, Yui, Platonov are returning after 167 days in space as part of Expedition 74 aboard the International Space Station. Photo by Bill Ingalls/NASA via ABACAPRESS.COM

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NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 Splashdown

Handout Photo shows The SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft is seen as it lands with NASA astronauts Zena Cardman, Mike Fincke, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov aboard in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Long Beach, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. Cardman, Fincke, Yui, Platonov are returning after 167 days in space as part of Expedition 74 aboard the International Space Station. Photo by Bill Ingalls/NASA via ABACAPRESS.COM

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Meet the Crew of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11

Handout photo shows jsc2025e060299 (May 19, 2025) --- NASA astronaut Zena Cardman, commander of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 mission to the International Space Station, poses for a portrait in his pressure suit at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, Zena Cardman, Mike Fincke, Kimiya Yui, and Oleg Platonov. California. Photo by SpaceX/NASA via ABACAPRESS.COM

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Meet the Crew of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11

Handout photo shows Zena Cardman, Mike Fincke, Kimiya Yui, and Oleg Platonov. The official crew portrait of NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 members. Front row, from left, are Pilot Mike Fincke and Commander Zena Cardman, both NASA astronauts. In the back from left, are Mission Specialists Oleg Platonov of Roscosmos and Kimiya Yui of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exporation Agency). Photo by NASA/Robert Markowitz/NASA via ABACAPRESS.COM

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Meet the Crew of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11

Handout photo shows JAXA astronaut Kimiya Yui, mission specialist of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 mission to the International Space Station, poses for a portrait in his pressure suit at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California. Photo by SpaceX/NASA via ABACAPRESS.COM

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NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 Pre-Splashdown - Long Beach

Handout Photo datetd on January 14, 2026 shows NASA and SpaceX support teams board the ship SHANNON to prepare for the landing of the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft with NASA astronauts Zena Cardman, Mike Fincke, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov aboard, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Long Beach, Calif.. Cardman, Fincke, Yui, Platonov are landing in the Pacific Ocean after 167 days in space as part of Expedition 74 aboard the International Space Station. Photo by Bill Ingalls/NASA via ABACAPRESS.COM

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NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 Pre-Splashdown - Long Beach

Handout Photo datetd on January 14, 2026 shows The SpaceX recovery ship SHANNON is seen in the Pacific Ocean as the recovery team prepares for the landing of the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft with NASA astronauts Zena Cardman, Mike Fincke, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov aboard, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, off the coast of Long Beach, Calif.. Cardman, Fincke, Yui, Platonov are returning after 167 days days in space as part of Expedition 74 aboard the International Space Station. Photo by Bill Ingalls/NASA via ABACAPRESS.COM

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NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 Pre-Splashdown - Long Beach

Handout Photo datetd on January 14, 2026 shows NASA and SpaceX support teams board a helicopter to stage for the landing of the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft with NASA astronauts Zena Cardman, Mike Fincke, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov aboard, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Long Beach, Calif.. Cardman, Fincke, Yui, Platonov are landing in the Pacific Ocean after 167 days in space as part of Expedition 74 aboard the International Space Station. Photo by Bill Ingalls/NASA via ABACAPRESS.COM

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Southern Europe and The Northwestern Mediterranean Coast from The ISS

Handout - JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui captured this photo of southern Europe and the northwestern Mediterranean coast from the International Space Station as it orbited 261 miles above Earth on August 30, 2025. At left, the Po Valley urban corridor in Italy shines with the metropolitan areas of Milan and Turin and their surrounding suburbs. Crew members aboard the orbital lab have produced hundreds of thousands of images of the land, oceans, and atmosphere of Earth, and even of the Moon through Crew Earth Observations. Their photographs of Earth record how the planet changes over time due to human activity and natural events. This allows scientists to monitor disasters and direct response on the ground and study a number of phenomena, from the movement of glaciers to urban wildlife. Photo by JAXA/Kimiya Yui/NASA via ABACAPRESS.COM

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Japanese astronauts

Takuya Onishi (lower R) communicates with fellow Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui (on screen), currently on a six-month mission at the International Space Station, during an event in Tokyo on Nov. 14, 2025.

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SpaceX crew launch

Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui waves at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Aug. 1, 2025, before a planned liftoff on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket for a mission at the International Space Station.

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SpaceX crew launch

Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui waves at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Aug. 1, 2025, before a planned liftoff on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket for a mission at the International Space Station.

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Astronaut Yui meets press ahead of ISS mission

Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui holds a press conference in Tokyo on June 4, 2025, ahead of his six-month mission at the International Space Station from July at the earliest.

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Japanese astronaut Yui meets top gov't spokesman

TOKYO, Japan - Astronaut Kimiya Yui holds a model of the Japanese experiment module Kibo in the International Space Station with Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga at the Prime Minister's office in Tokyo on Jan. 13, 2015. Yui is scheduled to stay there for half a year from May.

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Japanese astronaut Yui calls on science minister

TOKYO, Japan - Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui (L) pays a courtesy call on science minister Hakubun Shimomura at the latter's office in Tokyo on Jan. 6, 2015, ahead of his trip to the International Space Station aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft in May.

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Japanese astronaut Yui meets science minister in Tokyo

TOKYO, Japan - Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui (L) explains about the International Space Station to science minister Hakubun Shimomura at the latter's office in Tokyo on Jan. 6, 2015, ahead of his trip to the station aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft in May.

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Japanese astronaut Yui

TOKYO, Japan - File photo shows Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui during an interview in October 2012. On July 10, 2013, the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration revealed the members of a space expedition team for a voyage in 2015, saying American Kjell Lindgren, Yui and Oleg Kononenko of Russia will leave Earth in June 2015 and stay at the International Space Station for about six months.

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Astronaut Yui

TOKYO, Japan - Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui speaks during an interview with Kyodo News in Tokyo on Oct. 18, 2012. Yui will travel into space in 2015 for a long-term stay on the International Space Station.

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Astronaut Yui

TOKYO, Japan - Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui speaks during an interview with Kyodo News in Tokyo on Oct. 18, 2012. Yui will travel into space in 2015 for a long-term stay on the International Space Station.

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Japan taps 3 new astronauts

TOKYO, Japan - (from L) Kimiya Yui, Takuya Onishi and Norishige Kanai attend a press conference in Tokyo on July 27, 2011, one day after the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency certified them as astronauts for the International Space Station. The three Japanese astronauts have completed all their basic training requirements in the U.S. and elsewhere. Seen in front is a model of the ISS.

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Japan taps 3 new astronauts

TOKYO, Japan - Kimiya Yui attends a press conference in Tokyo on July 27, 2011, one day after the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency certified Yui and two other men as astronauts for the International Space Station. The three Japanese astronauts have completed all their basic training requirements in the U.S. and elsewhere. Seen in front is a model of the ISS.

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Japan taps 3 new astronauts

TOKYO, Japan - (from L) Takuya Onishi, Kimiya Yui, and Norishige Kanai hold a model of the International Space Station during a press conference in Tokyo on July 27, 2011, one day after the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency certified them as astronauts for the ISS. The three Japanese astronauts have completed all their basic training requirements in the U.S. and elsewhere.

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Japanese astronaut candidates join JAXA

TOKYO, Japan - Two Japanese astronaut candidates -- (from L to R) Takuya Onishi and Kimiya Yui -- join the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency in an entrance ceremony in Tokyo on April 1.

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Astronaut candidate Yui quits ASDF to join space agency

TOKYO, Japan - Lt. Col. Kimiya Yui, the Air Self-Defense Force fighter pilot chosen to become an astronaut, leaves the Defense Agency in Tokyo on March 31 after a ceremony to send him off. Yui will join the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and begin training for the much-coveted profession.

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Astronaut-to-be flies last flight as ASDF pilot

SAYAMA, Japan - Kimiya Yui (L), an Air Self-Defense Force pilot selected to be astronaut, gets a watery greeting from one of his colleagues at the ASDF's Iruma Base in Saitama Prefecture on March 3 after finishing his last flight as an ASDF pilot. Splashing pilots with water after their last flight is a tradition in the ASDF. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency recently selected Yui and All Nippon Airways pilot to be astronauts.

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Astronaut-to-be flies last flight as ASDF pilot

SAYAMA, Japan - Kimiya Yui (in cockpit), an Air Self-Defense pilot selected to be an astronaut, is photographed with his wife Yasuyo (2nd from R) and their three children at the ASDF's Iruma Base in Saitama Prefecture on March 3 after flying the last flight as an ASDF pilot. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency recently selected Yui and an All Nippon Airways pilot to be astronauts.

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2 Japanese from ANA, Defense Ministry selected to be astronauts

TOKYO, Japan - Takuya Onishi (L), 33, and Kimiya Yui (R), 39, who have been selected as Japanese astronaut candidates by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, show off a model of the international space station ''Kibo'' during a news conference at the JAXA Tokyo office on Feb. 25. Onishi is an All Nippon Airways Co. employee and Yui a Defense Ministry official.

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Recruiting future astronauts

Japanese astronauts (from L) Kimiya Yui, Naoko Yamazaki and Takuya Onishi gather in Tokyo for an online event on Dec. 1, 2021, urging people to apply to become astronauts.

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2 Japanese from ANA, Defense Ministry selected to be astronauts

TOKYO, Japan - Takuya Onishi (L), 33, and Kimiya Yui (R), 39, who have been selected as Japanese astronaut candidates by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, show off a model of the international space station ''Kibo'' during a news conference at the JAXA Tokyo office on Feb. 25. Onishi is an All Nippon Airways Co. employee and Yui a Defense Ministry official. (Kyodo)

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Astronaut-to-be flies last flight as ASDF pilot

SAYAMA, Japan - Kimiya Yui (L), an Air Self-Defense Force pilot selected to be astronaut, gets a watery greeting from one of his colleagues at the ASDF's Iruma Base in Saitama Prefecture on March 3 after finishing his last flight as an ASDF pilot. Splashing pilots with water after their last flight is a tradition in the ASDF. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency recently selected Yui and All Nippon Airways pilot to be astronauts. (Kyodo)

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Astronaut-to-be flies last flight as ASDF pilot

SAYAMA, Japan - Kimiya Yui (in cockpit), an Air Self-Defense pilot selected to be an astronaut, is photographed with his wife Yasuyo (2nd from R) and their three children at the ASDF's Iruma Base in Saitama Prefecture on March 3 after flying the last flight as an ASDF pilot. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency recently selected Yui and an All Nippon Airways pilot to be astronauts. (Kyodo)

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Astronaut candidate Yui quits ASDF to join space agency

TOKYO, Japan - Lt. Col. Kimiya Yui, the Air Self-Defense Force fighter pilot chosen to become an astronaut, leaves the Defense Agency in Tokyo on March 31 after a ceremony to send him off. Yui will join the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and begin training for the much-coveted profession. (Kyodo)

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Japanese astronaut candidates join JAXA

TOKYO, Japan - Two Japanese astronaut candidates -- (from L to R) Takuya Onishi and Kimiya Yui -- join the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency in an entrance ceremony in Tokyo on April 1. (Kyodo)

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Soyuz to carry 3 astronauts to ISS to launch July 7

Kimiya Yui, a Japanese astronaut who returned to Earth in December 2015 after a nearly five-month mission at the International Space Station (ISS), speaks to reporters in front of a Russian Soyuz rocket at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on July 4, 2016. The Soyuz will be launched to the ISS on July 7, carrying Takuya Onishi of Japan, Anatoly Ivanishin of Russia and Kathleen Rubins of the United States, as they begin their nearly four-month mission there. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Japanese astronaut Yui meets with space fans

Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui speaks to around 2,000 space fans about his five-month mission at the International Space Station during a debriefing session in Tokyo on March 16, 2016. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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PM Abe meets with astronaut

Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui (L) meets with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo on Feb. 24, 2016. Using a model of the cargo transporter Konotori, Yui explained how he docked it with the International Space Station using a robotic arm. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Japanese astronaut Yui gives press confab

Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui gives a press conference at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Tokyo office on Feb. 23, 2016, following his return to Earth in December after a nearly five-month mission on the International Space Station. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Japanese astronaut Yui gives press confab

Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui poses for a photo with a model of the Konotori unmanned cargo transporter at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Tokyo office on Feb. 23, 2016, following his return to Earth in December after a nearly five-month mission at the International Space Station. Yui, 46, used a robot arm to catch and dock Konotori, which was carrying water and scientific equipment to the ISS. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Japanese astronaut Yui meets with reporters

Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui meets with reporters on Dec. 21, 2015, in Houston, Texas, after completing a nearly five-month mission on the International Space Station. Yui said he is in good condition and could return to space tomorrow. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Japan's Yui, colleagues return to Earth after 5-month stay at ISS

Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui smiles after a Russian Soyuz spacecraft carrying Yui and two colleagues working at the International Space Station landed on a Kazakhstan plain on Dec. 11, 2015, after their nearly five-month missions. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Japan's Yui, colleagues return to Earth after 5-month stay at ISS

Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui (C) is lifted out of a Russian Soyuz spacecraft after it landed on a Kazakhstan plain on Dec. 11, 2015. Yui and two colleagues working at the International Space Station returned to Earth after completing their nearly five-month missions. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Japan's Yui, colleagues return to Earth after 5-month stay at ISS

Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui (R) gives a thumbs up after a Russian Soyuz spacecraft carrying him and two colleagues working at the International Space Station landed on a Kazakhstan plain on Dec. 11, 2015, following their nearly five-month missions. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Japan's Yui, colleagues return to Earth after 5-month stay at ISS

Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui smiles after a Russian Soyuz spacecraft carrying Yui and two colleagues working at the International Space Station landed on a Kazakhstan plain on Dec. 11, 2015, after their nearly five-month missions. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo