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NASA weighing rare early return of space station crew after astronaut's medical issue
NASA's update comes hours after the space agency cancelled a planned spacewalk which had been scheduled for Thursday, citing a “medical concern”.
NASA is weighing the early return of an astronaut, and its crew aboard the International Space Station (ISS) over a medical issue, which it has not yet specified.
A NASA spokeswoman relayed information on the issue, while stating that the concerned astronaut, who she did not identify owing to medical privacy, was in a stable condition on the orbiting laboratory.
The spokeswoman asserted that safely conducting missions was the “highest priority” for NASA. “We are actively evaluating all options, including the possibility of an earlier end to Crew-11’s mission,” she said.
The return of the four-person crew would be a rare consequence for a medical issue on the space station, where astronauts usually live in six to eight-month rotations, Reuters reported. During their stay, the astronauts have access to basic medical equipment and medications for emergencies.
NASA's update comes hours after the space agency cancelled a planned spacewalk which had been scheduled for Thursday, citing a “medical concern”, Reuters reported. “Due to medical privacy, it is not appropriate for NASA to share more details about the crew member,” the space agency said in a statement.
The space agency further said that they would share additional details on the matter, including a new date for the upcoming spacewalk, later.
Medical issues aboard the ISS: What do we know?
NASA does not typically share details on medical issues faced by astronauts aboard the ISS, CNN reported.
However, broader scientific studies and research have in the past released information regarding the impact of space missions on the human body, as well as other medical concerns that come up. Even in these, specific astronauts are not identified.
Conditions including the space adaptation syndrome, wherein astronauts may experience vomiting and vertigo, can affect them during their first hours in microgravity, according to the CNN report. These only came into focus following years of research.
A couple of such incidents involving medical issues are known, one of them being when SpaceX’s Crew-8 mission returned from the space station in October 2024. After their return, one of the crew members experienced a “medical issue” and was flown to a hospital in Florida, according to CNN.
