Before NASA’s Crew-11 could complete a spacewalk, the mission was canceled at the last minute due to unforeseen medical concerns with one of the team members. At the time, there was talk of the entire crew being evacuated, and it was still relatively unclear if that was going to happen. Ultimately, NASA made the decision to bring the team back about a month earlier than planned, making it the first official medical evacuation from space ordered by NASA directly. That said, this was not the first ever medical evacuation in the entire space exploration history. Russian cosmonaut Vladimir Vasyutin, in the mid-1980s, came down with a serious infection that prompted a quick return.
Crew-11 included four astronauts, starting with NASA’s Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, JAXA astronaut Kimiya Yui, and the Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov. Jared Isaacman, the youngest appointed NASA chief, says that he “couldn’t be prouder of our astronauts and the teams on the ground at NASA.” They kept the mission progress on schedule despite the adjusted timelines. Crew-11 was able to complete 140 science experiments on the ISS to advance human knowledge and exploration. Due to medical privacy, NASA is still tight-lipped about the medical concerns and about which crew member was experiencing them. NASA also “previously coordinated” for all crew members to visit a local hospital upon their return for “additional evaluation,” and potential care.
What happens next for the Crew-11 team members?
Following the planned hospital visit and related health check-ups, all of the crew members will return to the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, and complete “standard postflight reconditioning and evaluations.” During the crew’s 167-day mission, they conducted research that resulted in valuable information about space, new technologies, and the general preparations for future human exploration of the lunar surface and Mars. While no one currently knows the specific medical issue that prompted the return, it was likely not life-threatening. Ground teams ordered the same entry and splashdown procedures during the recent capsule return, and nothing extra.
It was, however, serious enough to warrant the early trip back to Earth’s surface. Some of the members have flown to space before, including Fincke and Yui. It’s unclear if the whole team will remain grounded, especially since it’s unknown which team member had the medical emergency. In other news, NASA is getting closer to the Artemis II mission’s target date, which itself is a step closer to the first crewed mission to the moon in half a century. Despite setbacks, these are exciting times in the world of space exploration.
