If you’re waking up today, January 17, 2026, and frantically searching for what time is splashdown today, you might be a little late to the party—but for a very good reason. Space schedules are notoriously fickle, and this week proved it in a big way.
The short answer? There isn’t a splashdown happening today. The big event actually went down early Thursday morning, January 15. NASA and SpaceX pulled a bit of a fast one on the calendar by bringing the Crew-11 mission home roughly a month ahead of schedule.
Why the schedule shifted
Honestly, it’s not often we see a mission cut short like this. Usually, NASA is extending stays on the International Space Station (ISS), not rushing people off it. But Crew-11, which included NASA’s Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, JAXA’s Kimiya Yui, and Roscosmos’s Oleg Platonov, hit a bit of a snag.
NASA cited a "medical concern" for one of the crew members. They’ve been pretty tight-lipped about who it was or what exactly happened—privacy is a big deal in space medicine—but the decision was made to evacuate them via a planned splashdown rather than waiting for the February rotation.
The actual splashdown timing
For those tracking the logs, the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour hit the water at 12:41 a.m. PST (3:41 a.m. EST) on Thursday, January 15, 2026.
They landed in the Pacific Ocean, just off the coast of San Diego. It was a textbook arrival, despite the urgency. The recovery ship, MV Shannon, was right there to fish them out. If you were looking for a live stream this morning, that’s why the NASA+ and SpaceX channels are currently showing replays or focusing on the Artemis II rollout instead.
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What Time is Splashdown Today? (The Next Big One)
Since you missed the Crew-11 return, you’re probably wondering when the next "drop" is. The space calendar for 2026 is absolutely packed, and the next major splashdown on the horizon is the big one: Artemis II.
Right now, the Artemis II mission—the first time we’re sending humans around the Moon since the 1970s—is tentatively scheduled to launch on February 6, 2026.
The Artemis II timeline
If that launch holds, here is how the splashdown timing looks:
- Mission Duration: Approximately 10 days.
- Target Splashdown: Around February 15 or 16, 2026.
- Landing Zone: The Pacific Ocean (typically near Baja California or San Diego).
Unlike the Dragon capsules which often land in the Gulf of Mexico or off the Florida coast, the Orion spacecraft (used for Artemis) specifically targets the Pacific because of its high-speed re-entry profile. It comes in hot—way hotter than a return from the ISS.
Why splashdown times change so much
It’s frustrating when you want to watch a live event and the timing shifts. You've probably noticed that "splashdown today" searches often lead to "scrubbed" or "delayed" news. There are basically three things that mess with the clock:
- Recovery Zone Weather: This is the big killer. It can be a beautiful sunny day at Cape Canaveral, but if the waves are too high or the wind is too gusty off the coast of California or Florida, the undocking gets nixed.
- The Medical Factor: As we saw with Crew-11 two days ago, human health is the ultimate wild card. NASA doesn't take risks. If a sensor suggests a crew member is struggling, they'll burn the engine and head home.
- Orbital Mechanics: You can’t just "leave" the ISS whenever you want. The station has to be in the right spot so that when the capsule drops out of orbit, it hits the target water zone. It's basically like trying to jump off a merry-go-round and land in a specific bucket of water.
What about Boeing Starliner?
You might also be seeing news about Starliner. After all the drama in 2024 and 2025, Boeing’s Starliner-1 mission is currently slated for an uncrewed cargo run later this year (NET April 2026). So, no splashdown for them today either. Most of their landings actually happen on solid ground at White Sands, New Mexico, which is a whole different vibe from the ocean landings we’re used to seeing with SpaceX.
How to stay updated in real-time
If you want to catch the next splashdown live without getting the date wrong, stop relying on general search results that might be showing cached data from yesterday.
Go straight to the source. The NASA App or the SpaceX X (formerly Twitter) account are the only places that give you the "Go/No-Go" status in real-time. For Artemis II, those updates are going to be constant starting the first week of February.
Actionable insights for space fans
- Check the "Undock" time: Splashdown usually happens about 6 to 12 hours after the spacecraft leaves the ISS. If you see they haven't undocked yet, there won't be a splashdown today.
- Watch the "Deorbit Burn": This is the point of no return. Once that engine fires to slow the craft down, splashdown usually happens about an hour later.
- Track the Recovery Ships: Dedicated fans often track ships like the Megan or Shannon on marine tracking sites. When those ships start idling in a specific square of the ocean, a splashdown is imminent.
The Crew-11 team is currently undergoing medical evaluations and getting their "land legs" back. While you might have missed the live splashdown for this mission, the footage of them exiting the Dragon Endeavour is already up on NASA's YouTube channel. It's worth a watch, especially seeing the recovery teams work in the dark—it was a 3:41 a.m. arrival, after all.
Keep your eyes on February 6. That's when the real fireworks start with the Artemis II rollout.