If so, what you witnessed was a four-person NASA space crew returning to Earth aboard the SpaceX Dragon Endeavor spacecraft. According to a news release from NASA, Crew-11 splashed down safely off the coast of San Diego at around 12:41 a.m.

Expected trajectory of the SpaceX Dragon Crew-11 capsule when it returns to Earth shortly after midnight on Thursday. The SpaceX Dragon crew capsule’s

A SpaceX ship recovered the spacecraft from the ocean and at around 1:30 a.m. and welcomed aboard NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, plus Kimiya Yui of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and Oleg Platonov of Roscosmos, the Russian space agency.

Crew 11 is expected to splash down off the coast of Southern California at 3:41 a.m., closing out a 167-day stay in space.

NASA has confirmed SpaceX Crew-11 Dragon has completed its early return to Earth following a medical evacuation from the International Space Station.

The SpaceX Dragon capsule carrying Crew-11 illuminated the night sky over California during a fiery atmospheric re-entry. This historic mission marked the first-ever medical evacuation from the International Space Station,

Crew-11’s departure leaves the ISS, which is normally staffed by seven astronauts and cosmonauts, in the hands of cosmonaut Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, who replaced Fincke as the Expedition 74 commander. Astronaut Chris Williams and cosmonaut Sergey Mikaev also remain onboard the orbital lab.

Skywatchers across the Bay Area will have a rare early-morning opportunity Thursday as a NASA SpaceX Dragon spacecraft makes its final pass over California before returning to Earth.