Brendan Byrne

They knew how to do this.

They've had plans like this for a long time.

Now we're putting it in action.

NASA is still proceeding with a crew test flight around the moon and back that could launch as early as April.

For NPR News, I'm Brendan Byrne in Orlando.

NASA identified 58-year-old Mike Fink as the crew member who experienced a medical event on the station.

In a statement, Fink said the health problem required immediate attention, and thanks to the quick response of his crewmates, his status stabilized.

That medical issue prompted NASA to bring the entire crew back home a month early so Fink could receive additional care back on the ground.

NASA has not released details on what type of medical issue Fink experienced.

The early departure left the space station short-staffed.

A replacement crew arrived at the station earlier this month.

For NPR News, I'm Brendan Byrne in Orlando.

The company is suspending the space tourism flights of its New Shepard rocket to focus on developing a lunar lander.

The rocket will remain grounded for at least two years.

New Shepard flights have carried 98 humans above the Kármán line, the widely accepted boundary of space about 62 miles above Earth, and then safely back in a capsule.

That includes Bezos himself, along with paying customers and celebrities such as William Shatner and Katy Perry.

The company says the shift allows Blue Origin to focus on building a lunar lander for NASA's human moon missions.

The agency awarded Blue Origin a $3.4 billion contract to develop the spacecraft.

For NPR News, I'm Brendan Byrne in Orlando.

The splashdown marks an early end to SpaceX and NASA's Crew 11 mission.