NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 NASA astronauts Zena Cardman (right) and Mike Fincke prepare for splashdown in the Pacific Ocean on Thursday, Jan. 15, 2025.
NASA+
The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft carrying NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov has completed its deorbit burn as expected ahead of splashdown.
Four minutes before splashdown, the drogue parachutes will deploy at about 18,000 feet in altitude while Dragon is moving approximately 350 mph. Less than a minute later, at about 6,000 feet in altitude, the main parachutes deploy while the spacecraft is moving approximately 120 mph.
Watch NASA’s live coverage on NASA+, Amazon Prime, and the agency’s YouTube channel until crew recovery is complete.
The crew of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 mission train for their trip to the International Space Station at SpaceX facilities in Florida. From left: Oleg Platonov, Mike Fincke, Zena Cardman, and Kimiya Yui.
SpaceX
Live coverage is underway on NASA+, Amazon Prime, and the agency’s YouTube channel as NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, are about an hour away from splashing down aboard their SpaceX Dragon spacecraft.
The deorbit burn is scheduled to begin at 2:51 a.m. EST. Splashdown remains on schedule for approximately 3:41 a.m. Weather conditions remain favorable and are “go” at the primary splashdown site off the coast of San Diego, California.
On Jan. 8, NASA decided to return Crew-11 earlier than originally planned as teams monitored a medical concern with a crew member currently living and working aboard the International Space Station. The crew member is stable.
Learn how to watch NASA content through a variety of online platforms, including social media.
When an astronaut aboard the International Space Station snapped this photograph of Lago Argentino in Patagonia on December 27, 2025, a school of fish-shaped clouds lingered over the glacial lake’s teal waters. Determining the clouds’ type and origin from the photograph alone is challenging, but several NASA scientists and university researchers offered a theory after reviewing the image.
“The lens shape reminds me of lenticular clouds, which usually form near or over mountains,” said Maria Hakuba, a research scientist in the aerosols and clouds group at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “The edges of the cloud also look quite smooth rather than ‘fuzzy,’ which suggests they’re ice clouds that are relatively high up.”
Lenticular clouds form as a result of lee waves, which develop when prevailing winds are forced up and over a topographic barrier, often a mountain range, and when the overlying air is stable. Air expands and cools at the crest of the waves, causing vapor to condense and form cloud droplets. Conversely, air on the other side of the waves descends, warming the air and causing the cloud to evaporate. The result is a set of seemingly stationary clouds that hover in place downwind of mountains. Lenticular clouds are often eye-catching, sometimes described as having shapes like almonds, upside-down dinner plates, lentils, flying saucers, or stacks of pancakes.
Hazem Mahmoud, an atmospheric science lead at NASA’s Langley Research Center, agreed that the clouds were likely lenticular and offered additional insight. MODIS (Moderate Resolution Spectroradiometer) data suggest cloud-top altitudes near 9,200 meters (30,000 feet) and cloud-top temperatures around 220 Kelvin, along with relatively large particle sizes consistent with the presence of ice crystals, he said. “The high altitude and microphysical properties suggest Cirrocumulus lenticularis,” he said.
Strong surface-level winds common in Patagonia likely swept across the glacial lakes of Los Glaciares National Park, forcing unusually moist air over the Andes, producing the lens-shaped clouds. Sublimation—the conversion of ice directly into water vapor—of glacial ice likely contributed to their formation by adding extra moisture into the air, he added.
Wind shear and turbulence may have caused the elongated, trailing appearance that made the clouds resemble a school of fish, Mahmoud explained. These forces stretched and organized the clouds horizontally above the lake, while shadows cast onto the landscape accentuated their forms. “Together these clouds tell a remarkable story of interaction between the lake’s moisture source, the Andes’ dynamic topography, and atmospheric circulation,” he said.
Santiago Gassó, an atmospheric scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, agreed they were likely lenticular clouds, citing the environmental context and Patagonia’s reputation as a hotspot for lenticular cloud formation.
“Very often the clouds here are stationary and trapped by lee waves on the downwind side of the mountains,” Gassó said. “They often don’t precipitate because most of the moisture gets left on the west side of the mountain.” The stereotypical image of lenticular clouds is that they sit stationary at the top of mountains, but in reality, they tend to drift away “depending on the turbulence and flow,” he added.
All three scientists agreed that without analyzing more data, it’s hard to say definitively whether the cloud is lenticular or a type of cumulus. The challenge with a single astronaut photograph or satellite image is that we largely see the cloud-top properties, Mahmoud said. “If we also had lidar or cloud radar data, we could measure the vertical structure and thickness and more confidently differentiate a thin lenticular layer from a deep cumulonimbus column,” he said.
Whether cumulus or lenticular, it’s a coincidence that “fish” is the name atmospheric scientists sometimes use to describe formations of a type of shallow convective cloud found over the ocean. It was one of the patterns, along with “sugar,” “gravel,” and “flowers,” identified by a team of researchers who analyzed decades of MODIS cloud observations.
Readers with a penchant for cloud classification can participate in GLOBE Clouds, a GLOBE citizen science project that makes it possible for students and members of the public to contribute to NASA research projects. As part of the project, participants have the opportunity to use Clouds Wizard, a feature that guides users through cloud identification with a series of interactive questions, animations, and photos.
Astronaut photograph ISS074-E-8940 was acquired on December 27, 2025, with a Nikon Z9 digital camera using a focal length of 116 millimeters. It is provided by the ISS Crew Earth Observations Facility and the Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit at NASA Johnson Space Center. The image was taken by a member of the Expedition 74 crew. The image has been cropped and enhanced to improve contrast, and lens artifacts have been removed. The International Space Station Program supports the laboratory as part of the ISS National Lab to help astronauts take pictures of Earth that will be of the greatest value to scientists and the public, and to make those images freely available on the Internet. Additional images taken by astronauts and cosmonauts can be viewed at the NASA/JSC Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth.Story by Adam Voiland.
The peninsula in eastern Siberia features rugged terrain with towering, snow-covered peaks and cloud-filled valleys stretching between the Pacific Ocean…
The SpaceX Dragon crew spacecraft, with its nosecone open and carrying four Crew-11 members, departs the International Space Station shortly after undocking from the Harmony module’s space-facing port.
NASA+
At 5:20 p.m. EST, NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 mission undocked from the International Space Station’s Harmony module aboard the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft.
Following coverage of undocking, NASA’s return coverage continues with real-time audio-only, and full coverage will resume at the start of the splashdown broadcast. The audio-only feed includes astronaut conversations with mission control and live external video from the orbiting laboratory.
Live return coverage will resume at 2:15 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 15 on NASA+, Amazon Prime, and the agency’s YouTube channel until Dragon splashes down at approximately 3:41 a.m. off the coast of California and crew members are safely recovered. Learn how to watch NASA content through a variety of online platforms, including social media.
The mission is returning home earlier than originally planned as teams monitored a medical concern with a crew member currently living and working aboard the orbital laboratory. The crew member is stable.
The SpaceX Dragon crew spacecraft with four Crew-11 members aboard is seen docked to the Harmony module’s space-facing port on the International Space Station.
NASA+
NASA’s live coverage of the agency’s SpaceX Crew-11 undocking is underway on NASA+, Amazon Prime, and the agency’s YouTube channel. Learn how to watch NASA content through a variety of online platforms, including social media.
At 3:29 p.m. EST, the crew closed the hatch between the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and the International Space Station in preparation for undocking and the return to Earth of NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov.
The spacecraft will undock from the International Space Station at approximately 5:20 p.m., heading for a targeted splashdown at 3:41 a.m. on Thursday, Jan. 15 off the coast of California.
