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One of the astronauts falls ill/ NASA considers an early return of the crew from space

2026-01-08 19:55:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

One of the astronauts falls ill/ NASA considers an early return of the crew from

NASA is considering an early return of part of the crew to the International Space Station (ISS) due to a medical issue involving a member of a four-person team.

The crew member, who has not been identified, is reported to be in stable condition, but the incident has already led to the last-minute cancellation of a spacewalk.

Mission managers are now considering whether the safest option is to bring the entire Crew 11 team back to Earth months ahead of schedule. Three members of another crew will remain on board.

"The safe completion of our missions is our highest priority, and we are actively evaluating all options, including the possibility of an earlier conclusion of the Crew 11 mission," a NASA spokeswoman said.

On Wednesday, NASA unexpectedly canceled a spacewalk scheduled for Thursday, when two astronauts were to leave the ISS, and announced that this was because one of the crew members was unwell.

NASA will likely determine whether the astronaut can safely remain in orbit or should return home early with his crewmates.

"Our top priority is the safe execution of our missions, and we are carefully evaluating all options, including the possibility of completing the Crew 11 mission ahead of schedule," a NASA spokeswoman said.

The four-person Crew-11 team consists of NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, Kimiya Yui of Japan's JAXA space agency, and a Russian cosmonaut, Oleg Platonov.

They launched to the ISS in August 2025 aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon and were expected to stay in orbit for about six months and return around the end of February 2026, after being replaced by another four-person crew a few days earlier. /CNA





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