Asger Risom
The agency stressed that the decision does not constitute an emergency evacuation and said the affected crew member remains in stable condition.
NASA has ordered the early return of the four-person Crew-11 mission from the International Space Station after a medical issue emerged involving one of the astronauts.
The agency stressed that the decision does not constitute an emergency evacuation and said the affected crew member remains in stable condition. Instead, the return is being treated as a precaution, driven by the limits of medical diagnostics in microgravity and NASA’s risk-management protocols.
A precautionary call, not an emergency
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said the decision followed consultations with agency leadership and medical staff, including NASA’s chief medical officer, Dr. James Polk.
After 25 years of continuous human presence aboard the ISS, Isaacman said, the agency’s procedures are designed to err on the side of caution when health uncertainties arise.
While the astronaut’s condition is not believed to be life-threatening, NASA determined that unresolved diagnostic questions were sufficient to justify shortening the mission.
Crew-11 to return aboard SpaceX Dragon
The Crew-11 astronauts scheduled to return to Earth are:
- Zena Cardman (USA), mission commander
- Mike Fincke (USA), pilot
- Kimiya Yui (JAXA, Japan), mission specialist
- Oleg Platonov (Roscosmos), mission specialist
They will depart the ISS aboard the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour capsule in the coming days. NASA said a detailed undocking and splashdown schedule will be released shortly.
The crew has spent roughly five months in orbit, supporting station operations, running scientific experiments and carrying out maintenance work intended to prepare the ISS for upcoming missions.
The limits of medicine in orbit
Dr. Polk explained that while basic medical monitoring is possible aboard the ISS, the station lacks the tools required for comprehensive diagnostics.
Those limitations — rather than a sudden deterioration in health — ultimately drove the decision to return the crew earlier than planned.
NASA emphasized that such calls are built into standard operating procedures and pose no risk to the station itself or to other missions.
Spacewalk scrapped, next crew under review
The early return decision coincided with the cancellation of a scheduled six-hour spacewalk that Crew-11 was due to perform. The spacewalk, which would have involved installing new external equipment on the ISS, was called off for safety reasons.
NASA said the next mission, Crew-12, is currently slated for launch in mid-February, though the agency is reviewing whether that timeline can be accelerated. Until then, American astronaut Chris Williams will remain aboard the station to maintain operational continuity.
For now, NASA is offering few specifics — only that something changed, and that bringing the crew home sooner was the safest course of action.
Sources: NASA
