ISS astronaut medical evacuation newest information: SpaceX readies Dragon spacecraft for Crew-11 return to Earth

SpaceX prepares for Crew-11 medical evacuation

SpaceX says it is Dragon spacecraft on the Worldwide House Station is able to return its 4 Crew-11 astronauts residence in an unprecedented medical evacuation on Jan. 14 and 15.

Subsequent Crew-11 touchdown replace tomorrow

Hey, House Followers, NASA continues to check the return choices for the 4 Crew-11 astronauts and we’re awaiting the company’s subsequent replace on its touchdown plans, although it does seem that the medical evacuation of the crew from the Worldwide House Station is just not imminent for Saturday. If that modifications, we’ll positively put up an replace right here.

Within the meantime, we’ll pause our updates for the day and be part of you once more on Saturday once we anticipate the following replace on NASA’s plans to return the Crew-11 astronauts to Earth.

Tariq Malik

Crew-11 assessments fits, begins packing for medical evac

The 4 astronauts of NASA’s Crew-11 mission on the Worldwide House Station haven’t got a touchdown date but for his or her medical evacuation from on account of a medical concern with one of many crew, however they’re already making ready to go away, NASA says.

Dr. James Polk, NASA’s chief medical officer, has said the medical issue is not an injury to the astronaut afflicted, but rather something related to the prolonged exposure to weighlessness by astronauts living and working on the International Space Station.

“It’s mostly having a medical issue in the difficult areas of microgravity and the suite of hardware that we operate in,” Polk said.

NASA officials have also said the issue was not connected with the Crew-11 astronauts’ work at the time to prepare for a planned spacewalk scheduled for Jan. 8, which was subsequently cancelled.

The months-long missions on the ISS can have lasting effects on the human body, forcing astronauts to readapt to live on Earth when they return, including rebuilding the muscle mass and bone density lost in space. At least one astronaut suffered a blood clot in orbit due to deep vein thrombisis at the two-month mark of a planned six-month mission. Physicians on Earth were able to devise a treatment for the astronaut to implement in space to address the issue and complete the mission’s full duration.

Not NASA’s first medical issue in space

While NASA’s current astronaut medical issue on the International Space Station has led to the first-ever planned medical evacuation of a crew from the orbiting lab, it is far from the first time the space agency has had to deal with a medical concern in orbit.

Dr. James Polk, NASA’s chief medical officer, told reporters late Thursday that medical issues we find common on Earth – like a toothache or other mild malady – are the same sort of things that have historically occurred with astronauts. The specific nature of the current issue, and the astronaut who experienced it, are being withheld for privacy reasons, he added.

Still, there is a record of medical concerns on the ISS, including ones that led to delays for spacewalks or other tasks.

In August 2020, NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei and his crewmate Akhiko Hoshide had their planned spacewalk called off days before the event due to a minor medical issue that remained undisclosed. And in 2008, European Space Agency astronaut Hans Schlegel was replaced on his ISS spacwalk by NASA astronaut Stanley Love due to a medical concern.

Former astronauts weigh-in on ISS situation

Former Canadian Space Agency astronaut Chris Hadfield posted his thoughts regarding NASA’s recent decision to fly Crew-11 astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) back to Earth due to an ongoing medical issue.

“These would be totally separate campaigns at this point,” Isaacman said during a Jan. 8 press conference to provide an update on NASA’s decision to end Crew-11 early. “There’s no reason to believe at this point in time that there’d be any overlap that we have to deconflict for.”

You can read the full story here by Staff Writer Josh Dinner.

NASA prepares to return 4 astronauts home early

The Crew-11 astronauts are NASA’s Mike Fincke and Zena Cardman, Japan’s Kimuya Yui, and Russia’s Oleg Platonov. NASA officials canceled a planned Jan. 8 spacewalk by Fincke and Cardman due to the medical concern, but the agency has not said which of the four astronauts suffered the medical issue out of privacy concerns.

The astronaut who suffered the medical issue is in a stable condition, but NASA does want to return them to Earth where they can receive treatment with better care than the conditions on the ISS allow.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman announced his decision to bring the Crew-11 astronauts home early on their SpaceX Dragon capsule on Thursday (Jan. 8). The agency is now drawing up plans to both undock the Crew-11 Dragon and splashdown off the Florida coast early, while also accelerating the planned launch of a replacement crew on the SpaceX Crew-12 mission.

The departure of the Crew-11 astronauts will leave NASA astronaut Chris Williams and two cosmonauts, Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikayev, on their own on the ISS. Crew-11 launched to the ISS in August 2025, with Williams and crew launching on a Soyuz rocket in November.

Watch this space for more updates on this developing story.

Tariq Malik