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NASA is cutting short an International Space Station (ISS) mission due to one astronaut suffering a ‘serious medical condition’.
All four crew are returning to earth months earlier than planned, in NASA’s first ever medical evacution, senior space officials have announced.
Speaking at a short-notice press conference on Thursday, NASA administrator Jared Isaacman said he and medical officials made the decision to return the astronaut, whom he did not identify, because ‘the capability to diagnose and treat this properly does not live on the International Space Station’.
The affected astronaut was not identified and no more details about the medical issue were revealed, with officials citing the crew member’s privacy.
NASA Chief Health and Medical Officer James Polk said ‘this was not an injury that occurred in the pursuit of operations,’ meaning it did not happen while the astronaut was working.
The crew is made up of US astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov.
They have been on ISS since launching from Florida in August and were due to return around May this year.
A spacewalk scheduled for Thursday was cancelled on Wednesday, before a decision to return the crew was made.
Mr Fincke, the station’s designated commander, and Mr Cardman, assigned as flight engineer, were set to complete a 6.5-hour spacewalk onto install hardware outside the station.
Medical issues on ISS are rarely revealed to the public.
Spacewalks are demanding and high-risk operations that take months of preparation.
Astronauts must work in cumbersome suits and follow precise instructions while remaining attached to the space station.
In 2024, NASA cancelled a scheduled spacewalk at the last moment after an astronaut reported ‘spacesuit discomfort’.
In 2021, meanwhile, US astronaut Mark Vande Hei was forced to abandon a spacewalk after suffering a pinched nerve.
MORE: Dad and son both went to bed with ‘cough and cold’ before dying in their sleep
MORE: US releases new food pyramid as expert says it ‘takes diets back to the 1950s’
MORE: ChatGPT wants your medical records – these are the risks
NASA is cutting short an International Space Station (ISS) mission due to one astronaut suffering a ‘serious medical condition’.
All four crew are returning to earth months earlier than planned, in NASA’s first ever medical evacution, senior space officials have announced.
Speaking at a short-notice press conference on Thursday, NASA administrator Jared Isaacman said he and medical officials made the decision to return the astronaut, whom he did not identify, because ‘the capability to diagnose and treat this properly does not live on the International Space Station’.
The affected astronaut was not identified and no more details about the medical issue were revealed, with officials citing the crew member’s privacy.
NASA Chief Health and Medical Officer James Polk said ‘this was not an injury that occurred in the pursuit of operations,’ meaning it did not happen while the astronaut was working.
The crew is made up of US astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov.
They have been on ISS since launching from Florida in August and were due to return around May this year.
A spacewalk scheduled for Thursday was cancelled on Wednesday, before a decision to return the crew was made.
Mr Fincke, the station’s designated commander, and Mr Cardman, assigned as flight engineer, were set to complete a 6.5-hour spacewalk onto install hardware outside the station.
Medical issues on ISS are rarely revealed to the public.
Spacewalks are demanding and high-risk operations that take months of preparation.
Astronauts must work in cumbersome suits and follow precise instructions while remaining attached to the space station.
In 2024, NASA cancelled a scheduled spacewalk at the last moment after an astronaut reported ‘spacesuit discomfort’.
In 2021, meanwhile, US astronaut Mark Vande Hei was forced to abandon a spacewalk after suffering a pinched nerve.
MORE: Dad and son both went to bed with ‘cough and cold’ before dying in their sleep
MORE: US releases new food pyramid as expert says it ‘takes diets back to the 1950s’
MORE: ChatGPT wants your medical records – these are the risks
