NASA may bring a crew home early from the International Space Station because of a medical situation involving an astronaut, the agency said on Thursday.
NASA did not provide details on what the medical issue was, but said that the astronaut involved, who was not identified, was stable. It is rare for NASA to end a mission early, but the space agency said in a statement that it was an option.
“Safely conducting our missions is our highest priority, and we are actively evaluating all options, including the possibility of an earlier end to Crew-11’s mission,” NASA said. “These are the situations NASA and our partners train for and prepare to execute safely.”
In an earlier statement on Wednesday, NASA said that it was postponing a spacewalk scheduled for Thursday because of a crew member’s medical issue.
The station commander, Michael Fincke, and the flight manager, Zena Cardman, were scheduled to exit the space station and conduct the six-and-a-half-hour spacewalk, which was to be focused on power upgrade work.
Mr. Fincke and Ms. Cardman, both of NASA, went to space on Aug. 1 with the two other members of Crew-11: Kimiya Yui of Japan and Oleg Platonov of Russia.
They traveled to the International Space Station aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft and were scheduled for a six-month stay. Six months will have elapsed in the first week of February.
It is Mr. Fincke’s fourth trip to the space station and Mr. Yui’s second, according to NASA. It is the first spaceflight for Ms. Cardman and Mr. Platonov.
As part of the crew’s mission, some of the astronauts are participating in studies to assess how astronaut health could be affected by deep space travel. This work includes examining how the body processes B vitamins in space and how body fluids are redistributed during constant weightlessness.
Three other astronauts are aboard the space station: Chris Williams of NASA, and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergey Mikaev of Russia. They are set to return to Earth in the Russian Soyuz spacecraft in the summer.
The next four-member crew to head to the space station from the United States was scheduled to leave no earlier than Feb. 15, according to NASA. It was not clear if that date would change if Crew-11 returns early.
Amanda Holpuch covers breaking news and other topics.
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