The International Space Station on Monday witnessed the change of command with outgoing Crew 11 handing over the charge to Roscosmos.The ceremony, broadcasted live, was necessitated early after one of the astronauts of Crew 11 faced medical issues, the details of which the space agency hasn’t revealed. Nasa’s Mike Fincke turned the station over to cosmonaut Sergey Kud-Sverchkov.Nasa earlier said Crew 11 will depart the ISS no earlier than January 14th. The crew was all smiles and everyone seemed healthy during the telecast. “So one part of us are getting ready to leave this beautiful space station, and another part is getting ready to take over full command and get (it) ready for another Dragon crew to come,” Fincke said, thanking each crewmate for their work during the shortened mission.Fincke then presented Kud-Sverchkov with a symbolic key to the space station.
“Despite all the changes and all the difficulties, we’re going to do our job on board ISS, performing scientific tasks, maintenance tasks, whatever happens. It’s a big honor to be a commander of space station,” Kud-Sverchkov said. “Thank you, Mike. And I want to (issue) the first command: let’s make a group hug!”Fincke, Cardman, Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui and cosmonaut Oleg Platonov are set to splash down in the Pacific Ocean off the southern California coast at 3:40 am on Thursday, January 15. Crew-11 had originally planned to depart around February 20, shortly after the arrival of Crew-12.