LOS ANGELES, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 astronauts returned to Earth early Thursday after one of the crew members aboard the International Space Station (ISS) experienced a medical issue last week.

The four-member SpaceX Dragon spacecraft splashed down off the coast of California at about 3:41 a.m. Thursday (1141 GMT) after an approximately 10-hour journey.

The crew includes NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov.

They arrived at the ISS on Aug. 2 last year and had originally been scheduled to remain aboard the station for about six months. NASA decided to conclude the mission ahead of schedule after one astronaut experienced a medical issue on Jan. 7. ■