"Medical Problem": NASA Sends ISS Crew Back to Earth Early
Three astronauts and one female astronaut are to leave the International Space Station prematurely. The reason is a medical problem. That never happened before.
The SpaceX Crew-11 (in blue) after their arrival on the ISS.
(Image: NASA)
NASA is having two astronauts, one female astronaut and one cosmonaut cut short their stay on the International Space Station ISS and return to Earth due to a “medical problem.” The US space agency announced this on Friday night, without providing further details. Therefore, it is also not known which member of SpaceX Crew-11 it is and what specific health problems are the cause. According to dpa, NASA's chief medical officer, James Polk, has assured that it is not an emergency and that the issue has nothing to do with the work on the ISS: “There remain risks and questions about the diagnosis” and therefore the person should return.
A first in ISS history
Crew-11 consists of Zena Cardman and Michael Fincke from NASA, Kimiya Yui from the Japanese space agency JAXA, and Oleg Platonow from Russia. The four launched to the ISS on August 1st and were actually supposed to stay on the space station for several more weeks. Instead, they are now scheduled to return in the coming days. The exact schedule has not yet been made public. Ensuring the astronaut's health and well-being takes priority, Polk assured. “I have come to the decision that it is in the best interest of our astronauts to bring Crew 11 back before their scheduled departure,” added new NASA chief Jared Isaacman.
Before the decision to prematurely abort the mission, NASA had already canceled an external mission planned for Thursday due to a health problem. Cardman and Fincke were supposed to carry it out. Another external mission was planned for next week, which will also not be carried out. According to ArsTechnica, the Japanese Yui requested a private meeting with a flight surgeon on Wednesday and had the cameras on the space station turned on. However, the session was not conducted publicly, so it is unknown who participated and what exactly was discussed. The identity of the affected person was not disclosed to protect their privacy, Polk further explained.
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In the 25-year history of the ISS, there has never been such a premature termination for medical reasons; only the Soviet Union brought back a cosmonaut from the Salyut 7 space station prematurely for health reasons in 1985 with Vladimir Vasyutin. On board the ISS now, besides Crew-11, are NASA astronaut Christopher Williams and cosmonauts Sergej Mikaew and Sergej Kud-Swertschkow. The three flew to the ISS with a Soyuz rocket. With SpaceX Crew-11, the Frenchwoman Sophie Adenot, among others, was scheduled to launch to the ISS in mid-February; this mission could now launch early.
(mho)
