NASA is weighing a rare early return of its current International Space Station crew after canceling a planned spacewalk because of an unspecified medical issue involving one astronaut, the agency said.
The astronaut, who was not identified, is in stable condition aboard the orbiting laboratory, according to a NASA spokeswoman. “Safely conducting our missions is our highest priority, and we are actively evaluating all options, including the possibility of an earlier end to Crew-11’s mission,” she said in a statement.
- Advertisement -
NASA said in an earlier update that it was “monitoring a medical concern with a crew member that arose Wednesday afternoon.” The agency did not disclose the nature of the issue or whether it is related to preparations for the spacewalk.
The four-person Crew-11 team comprises U.S. astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, Japan’s Kimiya Yui and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov. They launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida in August and had been slated to return around May. Fincke, the station’s commander, and Cardman, a flight engineer, were assigned a 6.5-hour spacewalk on Thursday to install hardware outside the station.
Spacewalks—formally known as extravehicular activities, or EVAs—are among the most demanding and risk-sensitive operations in human spaceflight. Astronauts work in pressurized, bulky suits for hours while tethered to the station, following meticulously choreographed procedures. Even minor health or equipment concerns can trigger a delay or cancellation.
NASA did not say which astronaut is affected or whether the schedule for Crew-11’s planned return will change. The agency’s astronaut corps treats in-flight medical matters as closely held, and astronauts rarely acknowledge or describe their conditions publicly.
NASA and its partners have canceled spacewalks before over medical or equipment concerns. In 2024, the agency scrubbed an EVA at the last minute after an astronaut experienced “spacesuit discomfort.” In 2021, U.S. astronaut Mark Vande Hei called off a spacewalk because of a pinched nerve.
The space station maintains robust medical resources and protocols to assess and manage health issues in orbit, ranging from routine ailments to more complex concerns that may warrant schedule changes. NASA said it is continuing to evaluate Crew-11’s situation and will provide updates as available.
The Crew-11 timeline is one of many moving parts in the station’s continuous-crew operations, which rely on carefully timed rotations among NASA, Japan’s JAXA, Russia’s Roscosmos and other partners. Any change to the return date would ripple through planning for cargo missions, science activities and crew handovers—but mission managers have decades of experience adapting to evolving conditions on orbit.
For now, the agency’s priority remains the health of the astronaut and the safety of the crew, with the canceled spacewalk underscoring how conservative decision-making often prevails in the unforgiving environment of space. NASA did not provide a new date for the EVA or a revised mission timeline.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
