Key Points
- NASA is bringing the Crew-11 astronauts home from the ISS early due to a medical issue.
- The crew is scheduled to return on Saturday, weeks ahead of their planned March 2026 landing.
- A planned spacewalk was postponed due to a medical issue.
- NASA has not disclosed the astronaut’s name or condition, but says the astronaut is stable.
NASA is bringing the Crew-11 astronauts back to Earth from the International Space Station (ISS) much earlier than planned. The decision, announced on Thursday by NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, was made due to a medical issue affecting one crew member. The crew is now scheduled to splash down on Saturday, cutting their mission short by several weeks.
The agency signaled earlier in the day that something was wrong by postponing a planned spacewalk.
ISS Commander Mike Fincke and flight engineer Zena Cardman were supposed to spend six and a half hours outside the station installing new power equipment. That spacewalk has been delayed, and the priority is to get the crew home safely.
NASA is being very tight-lipped about the details. They have not released the astronaut’s name or the specifics of their condition, citing medical privacy. However, NASA’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. James Polk, said the astronaut is in stable condition and that no injury during any operations caused the issue.
Dr. Polk explained that while the ISS has extensive medical equipment, it’s not a full-fledged hospital. He said the “medical incident was sufficient enough” that the agency decided the “lingering risk” was too great to keep the crew in orbit.
This is the first time in NASA’s history that it has had to bring a crew home from the ISS early due to a medical situation. The last time the agency had to cut a mission short due to a contingency was in 1997, when a space shuttle experienced a fuel cell failure.
The Crew-11 astronauts, who include two Americans, one Japanese, and one Russian, launched to the station on a SpaceX Dragon capsule on August 1, 2025. They were originally scheduled to return in March 2026.
