The astronaut's identity has not been revealed but it is stated that they are "stable."
A "health issue" of one of the NASA astronauts currently at the International Space Station (ISS) has led the US space agency to advance the return to Earth of the crew of mission Crew-11, which arrived at the orbital platform on August 2 aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft to complete a six-month stay that was supposed to end in late February or March.
This was announced by NASA director, Jared Isaacman, in a press conference held a day after they decided to postpone the spacewalk scheduled for Thursday, and after announcing that on Wednesday afternoon a medical issue had arisen in a crew member, whose identity has not been disclosed "for privacy reasons."
They have not revealed the specific health issue but assure that the affected astronaut is "stable," as NASA had already indicated in two statements issued since Wednesday. In the latest statement, they hinted that all options were being considered, including an early return flight.
According to Jared Isaacman, the decision to evacuate the astronaut is due to "the lack of capability to diagnose and treat [this health issue] properly on the International Space Station." This is the first time a medical issue has arisen that requires evacuating an astronaut in the 25 years of operation of the orbital platform, which is located 300 kilometers from Earth and has been permanently inhabited since 2000.
Mission Crew 11 is composed of Americans Zena Cardman and Michael Fincke, Japanese Kimiya Yui (from JAXA), and Russian Oleg Platonov (from Roscosmos).
Additionally, currently at the ISS are American Christopher Williams and Russian cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev, who arrived on November 27 aboard a Soyuz spacecraft.
The return date of mission Crew 11 will be defined in the next 48 hours, according to agency officials, who are working with SpaceX and their international partners to review available options and advance the launch opportunities for mission Crew-12, with the replacement crew.
Jared Isaacman stated that the decision to return the crew to Earth is not related to "the preparations for the spacewalk" carried out in the last hours and is solely a "medical situation."
On the other hand, NASA's Chief Medical Officer, James Polk, mentioned that it is not an injury that occurred during operations.
The spacewalk scheduled for this Thursday was to be carried out by NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Michael Fincke and was expected to last six and a half hours. The goal was to prepare for the future installation of solar panels on the ISS to provide additional power to the orbital laboratory, which in the coming years will have to undergo a safe and controlled deorbiting process, as the plan is for the ISS to cease operations in 2030.
It would have been Cardman's first spacewalk and Fincke's tenth, making him the NASA astronaut with the most spacewalks. Another spacewalk was also planned for January 15.