NASA officials said they plan to bring the crew aboard the International Space Station home early due to what the space agency called a "medical concern" with an unidentified crew member.
They said the astronaut's condition is stable and it is not an emergency evacuation, but they want to err on the side of caution and bring them home for additional testing. Crew 11 is expected to depart on the Crew Dragon Endeavour and return to Earth in the next few days. NASA officials said this is the first controlled medical evacuation in the space station's 25-year history.
The agency stressed Thursday that in the event of an emergency de-orbit, it would have the ability to bring astronauts home within a matter of hours.
The announcement Thursday evening came after NASA scrapped a planned spacewalk earlier in the day.
NASA Chief Health and Medical Officer Dr. James D. Polk said the ISS is equipped with a "robust suite of medical hardware," but it is lacking all the tools that would be needed for a more "complete workup" of a patient. He said the medical issue rose to the level where NASA would prefer to "complete that workup on the ground."
NASA previously said it was looking into "all options, including the possibility of an earlier end to Crew 11's mission." NASA did not specify a timetable for when a new crew would ascend to the ISS but said it was looking into possible earlier dates to launch Crew 12 to the space station.
NASA said it would not be identifying the astronaut in question or giving further details on the medical issue, but earlier said "the matter involved a single crew member who is stable."
Currently aboard the ISS are commander Mike Fincke, flight engineer Zena Cardman, Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov.
The crew was scheduled to remain aboard the ISS until mid-February.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
Latest details after ICE officer kills woman in Minneapolis shooting
Video shows moments before ICE officer fatally shoots Renee Good in Minneapolis
Protesters gather after ICE shoots and kills woman in Minneapolis
LATEST POSTS
- 1
NASA is sending astronauts back to the moon. Can you see the Artemis 4 landing sites from Earth? - 2Hot peppers sent him to the ER. Two years later, a ‘ghost bill’ arrived.
- 3Grass Care Administrations for a Wonderful, Sound Yard
- 4Make your choice for the music application with the most amicable connection point!
- 5Help Your Insusceptibility: Good dieting and Way of life Tips
- Vote In favor of Your Favored Sort Of Bevarage
- CDC studies show value of nationwide wastewater disease surveillance, as potential funding cut looms
- Crew-11 astronauts undock in 1st-ever medical evacuation from the International Space Station (video)
- 4 astronauts depart ISS, leaving behind just 3 crewmates to staff the orbiting lab
- ‘Serving is not just a place’: Bayside Church Granite Bay reimagines annual mission amid conflict in Mexico
- IDF says up to 90% of Iran’s weapons industry could be hit within days
- Germany's Bundestag extends two armed forces missions abroad
- Material of Innovativeness: A Survey of \Releasing Your Imaginative Potential\ Online Workmanship Course
- Ghassan Al-Duhaini to replace Abu Shabab as Popular Forces leader in Gaza
