Illness aboard ISS leads Nasa to think about bringing crew residence

Nasa is contemplating an early return of some crew aboard the International Space Station (ISS) due to a medical subject involving one member of a four-strong crew.

The unnamed crew member is described as secure, however the incident has already led to the last-minute cancellation of a spacewalk.

Mission managers are actually weighing whether or not the most secure choice is to convey all the Crew 11 crew again to Earth months forward of schedule. Three members of one other crew would stay on board.

“Safely conducting our missions is our highest priority, and we are actively evaluating all options, including the possibility of an earlier end to Crew 11’s mission,” mentioned a Nasa spokeswoman.

On Wednesday Nasa abruptly cancelled a spacewalk due for Thursday when two astronauts had been set to step exterior the ISS and introduced that it was as a result of one of many crew was unwell.

“The agency is monitoring a medical concern with a crew member that arose Wednesday afternoon aboard the orbital complex.

“Due to medical privateness, it isn’t acceptable for Nasa to share extra particulars in regards to the crew member,” the space agency said.

Nasa is likely to be determining whether the astronaut can safely remain in orbit or should come home early with their crewmates.

“Our high precedence is the protected execution of our missions, and we’re totally assessing all potentialities, together with the choice of concluding Crew 11’s mission forward of schedule,” the spokeswoman added.

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

They launched to the ISS in August 2025 on a SpaceX Crew Dragon and were expected to remain in orbit for about six months and return around late February 2026, after being replaced by another four person crew a few days earlier.

If Crew 11 leave together, the other crew on board would remain: Nasa astronaut Chris Williams and two Russian cosmonauts, Sergey Kud Sverchkov and Sergei Mikayev.

If the mission were to end early all four astronauts on Crew-11 would be brought home, according to Dr Simeon Barber, a space scientist at the Open University.

“They would all come again collectively as a crew, as a result of, you do not wish to go away a number of crew member behind.”

The ISS has basic medical equipment, supplies and communication systems that let doctors on Earth talk privately with astronauts in space, assess their condition and advise treatment, much like a secure video or phone consultation with a GP.

Returning the four-person crew early would delay some experiments and maintenance tasks until the new crew arrive, according to Barber.

“The area station is a giant, advanced feat of engineering, it is designed to be operated by a sure minimal stage of crew,” he mentioned.

“If Crew-11 had been to return early, what the remaining crew must do is dial again on a few of the extra experimental work and focus extra simply on the housekeeping and holding the station wholesome, ready for the complete complement of crew to be restored.”