An unplanned crew departure marked a rare moment in spaceflight history as NASA confirmed its first medical evacuation from the International Space Station, bringing 4 astronauts back to Earth earlier than scheduled.
The returning crew, representing the U.S., Russia, and Japan, undocked from the space station aboard a SpaceX spacecraft and are targeting an early Thursday morning splashdown in the Pacific Ocean near San Diego. The move shortened their mission by more than a month.
“Our timing of this departure is unexpected,” said NASA astronaut Zena Cardman before the return journey, “but what was not surprising to me was how well this crew came together as a family to help each other and just take care of each other.”
NASA officials declined to identify the astronaut who required medical attention last week and did not disclose details of the condition, citing medical privacy. Outgoing space station commander Mike Fincke said earlier that the astronaut was “stable, safe and well cared for,” adding, “This was a deliberate decision to allow the right medical evaluations to happen on the ground, where the full range of diagnostic capability exists.”
The crew launched in August and was originally scheduled to remain in orbit until late February. Along with Cardman and Fincke, the team included Japan’s Kimiya Yui and Russia’s Oleg Platonov. On January 7, NASA abruptly canceled a planned spacewalk and later announced the early return, stressing the issue was not related to station operations and was not considered an emergency.
NASA said standard entry and recovery procedures were followed, with medical experts aboard the recovery ship. The return occurred less than 11 hours after undocking. Officials said it was unclear how soon the astronauts would travel from California to Houston, home of NASA’s Johnson Space Center.
One U.S. astronaut and 2 Russian astronauts remain aboard the station, about 1.5 months into an 8-month mission launched from Kazakhstan. NASA and SpaceX are working to advance the launch of a replacement 4-person crew from Florida, currently planned for mid-February.
While computer models predicted a space station medical evacuation every 3 years, this was the first in NASA’s 65-year human spaceflight history. The decision was also the first major call made by NASA’s new administrator Jared Isaacman, who took office in December.
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