NASA is sensationally mulling over the first-ever medical evacuation of its International Space Station astronauts over a mysterious health issue with one of its crew.
The space agency shared the news after the concern forced them to cancel an ISS spacewalk scheduled for today.
An agency spokeswoman did not identify the astronaut or the medical issue, but said they are in a stable condition on the orbiting laboratory.
She said: “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.
“These are the situations NASA and our partners train for and prepare to execute safely.
“We will provide further updates within the next 24 hours.”
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Crew-11 is made up of four astronauts: United States‘ Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov.
Station commander Fincke and flight engineer Cardman were due to head outside the International Space Station on Thursday for a marathon 6.5-hour spacewalk to install new external hardware.
NASA has never had to pull an astronaut from the ISS over a medical issue, but it does have evacuation capabilities built into ever mission with crew return vehicles on standby.
The agency’s statement read: “Due to medical privacy, it is not appropriate for NASA to share more details about the crew member.
“The situation is stable. NASA will share additional details, including a new date for the upcoming spacewalk, later.’”
While calling off a spacewalk is unusual, it has happened before.
Back in 2021, a planned mission was scrapped after astronaut Mark Vande Hei suffered a pinched nerve and was unable to venture outside the station.
Another spacewalk was dramatically halted in 2024 after an astronaut reported ‘”spacesuit discomfort” just moments before heading out.
Earlier on Wednesday, everything appeared to be going to plan.
NASA confirmed final preparations were underway, with Fincke and Cardman busy sorting tools and gear.
Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata and NASA astronaut Chris Williams, who arrived at the ISS aboard a Soyuz spacecraft in November, helped the pair review spacewalk procedures, according to SpaceNews.
Later in the day, however, Wakata was heard on open communications requesting a private medical conference with a flight surgeon.
Such private consultations are a normal part of life on the ISS, allowing astronauts to discuss health concerns confidentially.
It remains unclear whether the request was linked to the medical issue referenced by NASA, or whether Wakata himself was affected.
NASA has also not confirmed whether the issue involved one of the two astronauts scheduled for the now-postponed spacewalk.
Astronauts typically spend six to eight months at a time living aboard the ISS, where they have access to basic medical equipment and a limited supply of medications for emergencies.
In the event of a serious problem, crew members would likely evacuate using the commercial crew capsule docked at the station that brought them there.
Crew-11 arrived at the ISS on August 1, 2025, with a planned return in late February.
The four astronauts are expected to head home only after Crew-12 arrives, no earlier than February 15, to take over operations.
NASA insists the ISS must always be staffed, as astronauts are vital for maintenance, repairs, running complex experiments, managing life support systems and carrying out spacewalks, jobs that machines alone cannot handle.
Even when astronauts have been left stuck in orbit, NASA has kept the station running.
Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore grabbed global attention in June 2024 when they launched to the ISS aboard Boeing’s Starliner capsule, which suffered problems before docking.
The spacecraft later returned to Earth without them, leaving the pair stranded in space until March 18, 2025.
Despite calls for NASA to bring them home early, the agency said there were no medical issues and the astronauts could safely remain in orbit until the next crew rotation.
