• Crew returns to Earth before scheduled stay ends
• Spacewalk halted after astronaut falls ill

Four astronauts returned to Earth after leaving the International Space Station a month earlier than planned, splashing down off the coast of California in their Dragon Endeavour spacecraft.

Crew 11 disembarked the capsule at 01:30 local time in California (09:30 GMT) following an 11-hour journey from the station.

The crew included Americans Mike Fincke and Zena Cardman, Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov.

They were originally scheduled to complete a standard six-and-a-half-month stay, having arrived at the station on 1 August.

Last week, a planned spacewalk for Fincke and Cardman was canceled at the last minute, and hours later NASA announced that a crew member had fallen ill.

NASA did not provide details about the affected astronaut or the nature of the medical issue but confirmed that their condition is stable.

The International Space Station orbits Earth at an altitude of roughly 400 kilometers, completing about 16 circuits per day at a speed of 28,160 kilometers per hour.