NASA has ordered its first-ever medical evacuation from the International Space Station after an astronaut fell ill with a "serious" but undisclosed issue, according to officials. The crew of four, led by US Commander Zena Cardman, is expected to return to Earth in the coming days, earlier than planned.
The decision comes after a series of hurried NASA statements about a medical situation that arose on Wednesday, forcing the agency to cancel its first spacewalk of the year. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman described the condition as "serious" and said that even if a doctor had been aboard, the agency would still have wanted to bring the astronaut home.
The sick crew member was now stable but there was a "lingering risk," said NASA's chief health and medical officer, Dr James Polk. The issue has not been properly diagnosed, and officials are unsure what it might be.
Despite the severity of the situation, Isaacman praised the swift effort across the agency to ensure astronaut safety, saying, "I'm proud of the swift effort across the agency thus far to ensure the safety of our astronauts."
The ISS will not be left empty, as three other people are living and working aboard. The US astronaut Chris Williams and Russia's Sergei Mikayev and Sergei Kud-Sverchkov arrived in November on board a Soyuz rocket for an eight-month stay.
This is only the second time a space agency has ended a space station mission early due to health concerns, following a 1985 incident where cosmonaut Vladimir Vasyutin returned from the Soviet station with an infection and high fever. The aging ISS is set to be retired by late 2030 or early 2031, with plans to slowly burn it up over time so that some debris falls into the ocean.
The decision comes after a series of hurried NASA statements about a medical situation that arose on Wednesday, forcing the agency to cancel its first spacewalk of the year. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman described the condition as "serious" and said that even if a doctor had been aboard, the agency would still have wanted to bring the astronaut home.
The sick crew member was now stable but there was a "lingering risk," said NASA's chief health and medical officer, Dr James Polk. The issue has not been properly diagnosed, and officials are unsure what it might be.
Despite the severity of the situation, Isaacman praised the swift effort across the agency to ensure astronaut safety, saying, "I'm proud of the swift effort across the agency thus far to ensure the safety of our astronauts."
The ISS will not be left empty, as three other people are living and working aboard. The US astronaut Chris Williams and Russia's Sergei Mikayev and Sergei Kud-Sverchkov arrived in November on board a Soyuz rocket for an eight-month stay.
This is only the second time a space agency has ended a space station mission early due to health concerns, following a 1985 incident where cosmonaut Vladimir Vasyutin returned from the Soviet station with an infection and high fever. The aging ISS is set to be retired by late 2030 or early 2031, with plans to slowly burn it up over time so that some debris falls into the ocean.
my thoughts are with Zena and the whole NASA crew rn... can never imagine being in such a scary situation up there 
sounds like they're handling things really well tho, especially with how quickly they reacted to get their astronaut home 
hope everything goes smoothly for the rest of the mission & that whatever it is, it gets figured out soon 
The fact that even without a doctor on board, they knew they had to bring the astronaut back is just awesome. It shows how much they care about their crew members' health.
just thinking about those astronauts on the ISS must be super stressful for everyone involved... can't even get a decent cup of coffee up there 
and then this happens? serious but undisclosed issue, yeah right... sounds like NASA is being extra cautious, good call 
hope that astronaut recovers ASAP, don't wanna leave them hanging out in space 
this is super weird... NASA is being super vague about what's going on with the astronaut 
maybe there's some kind of experiment gone wrong or something 
and now they're scrambling to get this person outta space before anyone finds out 
... and what's with the "lingering risk" thingy? Sounds like they're trying to cover their tracks 
anyway, glad everyone is safe but can't shake off this feeling that there's more to it than meets the eye 
first spacewalk cancelled, now one of the astronauts is feelin' unwell... I mean, we all know there are risks when you're up in space 
but it still looks like a major bummer. Glad to hear that the other three folks who are still on the ISS are doin' alright though 
. And omg can't believe this is only the second time this has happened... like, what's goin on? 
seems like NASA is always dealin' with some kinda medical emergency 
. but for real, I hope that astronaut recovers soon and gets back to their normal self 
so fingers crossed for the recovering astronaut 
just heard about this NASA thing... think its super concerning that one of their astronauts got sick on space 
also kinda cool that NASA's being proactive about ensuring astronaut safety - thats the kind of thing we should all be prioritizing on earth too 
... ISS is getting old, so its not like we're surprised it's being phased out 
. Like, what's the protocol for an astronaut getting sick in space? Do you just put them in a spacesuit and hope they recover? 
. On the bright side, at least it's not a massive explosion or something (I guess). 
NASA's gotta have its astronauts safe! I'm glad they're bringing them back earlier than planned, can't stress that enough 
. Interesting how rare this is for a space agency mission to be cut short like this... only second time ever 
. And can we talk about the ISS being retired soon? It's like, my grandma's old car - it's just not gonna make it much longer 
. The fact that a serious but undisclosed issue was not promptly diagnosed, leaving officials unsure what to expect, highlights the complexities of working in such an extreme environment 
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. The ISS is getting old anyway, so it's not like they're missing out on anything 
. And honestly, who knows what the deal with this astronaut's illness actually is? 
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... I don’t know if I could handle being cooped up in space for eight months 
... now let’s hope the ISS gets retired smoothly without any major issues