Crew-11 to return early due to a medical concern with astronaut

Date:
Thu, 08 Jan 2026 22:39:12 +0000

Description:
NASA has opted to bring the four-member Crew-11 team home from the International Space Station The post Crew-11 to return early due to a medical concern with astronaut appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com .

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NASA has opted to bring the four-member Crew-11 team home from the International Space Station (ISS) earlier than planned, following an unspecified medical concern with one crew member that emerged on Wednesday afternoon.

The situation with the crewmember, described as absolutely stable, has
already led to the indefinite postponement of the first spacewalk of 2026, originally scheduled for Thursday. The crew will return together on Dragon Endeavour with splashdown and recovery in the coming days.

The affected astronaut, whose identity and specific condition NASA has not disclosed due to medical privacy protocols, remains in stable condition and
is under close observation. The space agency emphasized that astronaut health incidents are rare but well-prepared-for scenarios in long-duration spaceflight.

Safely conducting our missions is our highest priority, and we are actively evaluating all options, including the possibility of an earlier end to Crew-11s mission, a NASA spokesperson stated in an official update released late Wednesday and reiterated on Thursday.

NASA initially announced the delay on Wednesday, stating it was monitoring a medical concern with a crew member that arose Wednesday afternoon aboard the orbital complex.

The agency later took its live ISS video feeds offline as a precautionary measure, but before the space to ground loop heard Kimiya Yui request a PMC (Private Medical Conference) to discuss the issue.

Astronauts on the ISS have access to basic medical equipment, medications,
and 24/7 ground support from flight surgeons, but serious conditions could necessitate evacuation via the docked Dragon capsule for a Pacific Ocean splashdown. This is becoming a serious situation. Possible early return of Crew-11.

NASA:

"As an update to our earlier communication regarding a medical situation aboard the International Space Station, the matter involved a single crew member who is stable. Safely conducting our missions https://t.co/Y1h7f5H6Di

NSF NASASpaceflight.com (@NASASpaceflight) January 8, 2026



This marks a highly unusual development for the ISS program. While individual spacewalks have been canceled or postponed in the past due to minor
issuessuch as spacesuit discomfort in 2024 or a pinched nerve in 2021NASA has never before ended an entire crew rotation early because of a medical emergency.

As expected, the name of the astronaut and the specific issue were not revealed due to honoring crew privacy in such a situation, but it was
revealed that the issue was not related to the preparation for the EVA, which includes pre-breath procedures ahead of the crewmembers spending up to eight hours outside the Space Station.

Crew-11, which arrived at the ISS on August 2, 2025, via SpaceXs Dragon spacecraft, includes NASA astronauts Zena Cardman (mission commander) and
Mike Fincke (pilot), Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov.

The team was nearing the end of its planned six-to-eight-month mission, with
a scheduled return in the latter half of February 2026, following the arrival of the next rotation, Crew-12, previously no earlier than February 15.

The postponed spacewalk, designated U.S. Spacewalk 94, would have seen Fincke and Cardman venture outside the station for approximately 6.5 hours to
prepare the 2A power channel for the future installation of additional International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Arrays (iROSAs). These upgrades
are critical for enhancing the stations power generation capabilities ahead
of its eventual deorbit in the coming years.

With an early return now ordered, the four Crew-11 members will depart together, leaving the remaining Expedition 74 crew (including other NASA and international astronauts) to maintain operations until the next rotation arrives.

NASA administrator Jared Isaacman did note that the situation does not
require an emergency return, allowing NASA to pick a nominal return and splashdown path for the Dragon over the next few days, as opposed to having
to undock immediately, which could be more complex based on ISS inclination, altitude, and orbit.

Crew-12 had a schedule of launching on SpaceXs Falcon 9 to the ISS on Feb 15, but evaluations are now taking place on accelerating this schedule.

Lead image: Screenshot from the NASA press conference



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Link to news story: https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2026/01/crew-11-to-return-early-medical-astron aut/


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