Four astronauts safely returned to Earth early Thursday, capping a dramatic and unusual week in space that required the crew to leave the International Space Station about a month earlier than planned...

Two Americans and astronauts from Japan and Russia are set to splash down in the Pacific Ocean after a medical issue prompted NASA to move up their return to Earth.

The four returning astronauts are Zena Cardman and Michael Fincke of NASA; Kimiya Yui of JAXA, the Japanese space agency; and Oleg Platonov of Roscosmos, the Russian space agency.