NASA has decided to end a mission on the International Space Station prematurely due to a medical problem experienced by one of the astronauts. The U.S.-Japanese-Russian crew of four will be returning to Earth sooner than originally scheduled. Consequently, NASA called off its first spacewalk of the year as a result of the health issue, without disclosing the identity of the astronaut or the specific medical condition for privacy reasons. Fortunately, the crew member’s condition is now stable.
Currently, seven astronauts are residing and working aboard the space station, with the most recent crew arriving in August following their launch from Florida. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman commended the agency’s prompt actions to ensure the astronauts’ safety during a news conference on Thursday.
The crew that will be returning home arrived at the space station via SpaceX in August for a planned stay of at least six months. This crew comprised U.S. astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov. Cardman and Fincke were scheduled to conduct a spacewalk to prepare for the installation of additional solar panels to enhance the station’s power supply.
This mission marked Fincke’s fourth visit to the space station and Yui’s second, while it was the debut spaceflight for Cardman and Platonov. Meanwhile, three other astronauts, including NASA’s Chris Williams and Russia’s Sergei Mikaev and Sergei Kud-Sverchkov, are currently on the space station after their Soyuz rocket launch in November for an eight-month mission, with plans to return in the summer.
