NASA has ordered the unprecedented early medical evacuation of four astronauts from the International Space Station, cutting short a mission that was expected to last into late February.
The agency confirmed Thursday that the crew will return to Earth more than a month ahead of schedule, according to Western Journal. Officials acknowledged that one astronaut has suffered a medical issue but declined to identify the individual or specify the condition, saying only that the situation is stable and that the decision reflects a cautious approach to crew safety.
After discussions with Chief Health and Medical Officer Dr. JD Polk and leadership across the agency, Ive come to the decision that its in the best interest of our astronauts to return Crew-11 ahead of their planned departure, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said. The four slated to depart the station in the coming days are NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov.
Polk explained that the orbiting outpost, while well-equipped, cannot match the diagnostic capabilities of a modern hospital. We have a very robust suite of medical hardware onboard the International Space Station, but we dont have the complete amount of hardware that I would have in the emergency department, for example, to complete a workup of the patient, he said.
And in this particular incident, the medical incident was sufficient enough that we were concerned about the astronaut that we would like to complete that workup, he said. Polk added that the limited equipment on the ISS leaves that lingering risk and lingering question as to what that diagnosis is, according to The New York Times.
That means theres some lingering risk for that astronaut on board. And so always, we err on the side of the astronauts health and welfare, he said, underscoring a risk-averse posture that stands in contrast to the lefts frequent willingness to gamble with safety in other policy arenas. NASA on Wednesday canceled a planned spacewalk involving Cardman and Fincke, citing a medical issue but offering no further details.
Fincke is on his fourth long-duration mission to the station, while Yui is on his second. Cardman and Platonov are both on their first trip, part of a new generation of spacefarers whose experience will shape future deep-space exploration.
Some members of the crew have been engaged in research on the health effects of extended space travel, work that could influence long-term missions to the moon and Mars and that conservatives often argue should be driven by science and national interest rather than political fashion. As noted by CBS News, the four launched aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule on Aug. 1 and had been scheduled to return on Feb. 20, a timeline now abandoned in favor of bringing the affected astronaut back to Earths far superior medical infrastructure.
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