Astronaut medical issue forces unprecedented early return of space station crew
Jan 8 (Reuters) - A "serious medical condition" with a crew member aboard the International Space Station has led NASA to bring the astronaut and three crewmates back to Earth months earlier than planned, the first such emergency return in the orbiting laboratory's 25-year history, senior space agency officials said.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman told reporters on Thursday in a short-notice press conference in Washington that 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 NASA officials did not identify which of the Crew-11 mission's four astronauts was experiencing the medical issue or describe its nature, 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.
NASA administrator Jared Isaacman (centre) speaks to reporters on January 7, 2026. On the left is Amit Kshatriya, the agency's associate administrator, while on the right is Dr. James Polk, the chief health and medical officer at NASA Headquarters. (NASA TV)
NASA on Wednesday afternoon called off a planned spacewalk with two U.S. astronauts that had been scheduled for Thursday over what it described as a "medical concern" with an astronaut, later saying in a midnight statement that it was considering ending the astronaut's rotation mission early.
The crew includes U.S. astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov. They have been on the space station since launching from Florida in August and were scheduled to return around May this year.
From left to right, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, NASA astronauts Mike Fincke and Zena Cardman, and JAXA astronaut Kimiya Yui, pose in their flight suits in front of their open Crew Dragon capsule at SpaceX's training centre in Florida, prior to the launch of the Crew-11 mission. (SpaceX)
Fincke, the station's designated commander, and Cardman, assigned as flight engineer, were scheduled to conduct a 6.5-hour spacewalk on Thursday to install hardware outside the station.
NASA's astronaut corps regards medical situations on the ISS as closely held secrets, and astronauts rarely acknowledge or describe publicly their medical conditions.
Crew-11's view of the ISS as their Dragon spacecraft slowly approached for docking on August 2, 2025. (SpaceX/NASA TV)
Spacewalks are arduous and risky missions that require months of training, involving bulky spacesuits and carefully coordinated instructions while tethered to the ISS.
NASA in 2024 called off a planned spacewalk last-minute because an astronaut experienced "spacesuit discomfort." U.S. astronaut Mark Vande Hei in 2021 called off his spacewalk over a pinched nerve.
(Reporting by Joey Roulette; Editing by Stephen Coates)