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
Watch SpaceX launch NASA's Pandora exoplanet-studying satellite on Jan. 11 - 2Figure out how to Keep up with Your Dental Inserts for Long haul Achievement
- 3Nestlé recalls infant formula in 49 countries. See list.
- 4The Most Well known Online Entertainment Forces to be reckoned with of 2023
- 5Instructions to Floss Appropriately and Forestall Gum Sickness
- Winter virus season so far is not too bad, but doctors worry about suffering to come
- Can ICE agents detain U.S. citizens? What powers do they have to arrest people? Your most common questions answered.
- Four countries to boycott Eurovision 2026 over Israel’s inclusion
- Investigating Free Cell Phones: What You Really want to Be aware
- ACA subsidies latest: Making sense of what's happening with health care after Republicans revolt, forcing a vote on funding extension
- Flu illness count nears 5 million, with New York City among the hardest hit
- 'The best gift ever': Baby is born after the rarest of pregnancies, defying all odds
- Earth’s magnetic field protects life on Earth from radiation, but it can move, and the magnetic poles can even flip
- Lawsuit claims ChatGPT exacerbated man's delusions leading to murder-suicide
