NASA is considering a rare evacuation of its crew from the International Space Station (ISS) over an unspecified medical issue involving one of the astronauts.
A spokeswoman for the agency said the astronaut with the medical concern, whom she did not identify, was in a stable condition on the orbiting laboratory.
‘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,’ the spokeswoman said in a statement on Wednesday night.
‘These are the situations NASA and our partners train for and prepare to execute safely. We will provide further updates within the next 24 hours.’
Crew-11 includes four astronauts: Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov.
NASA has never had to pull an astronaut home for medical reasons, but evacuation capability is built into every ISS mission, with crew return vehicles kept on standby.
The announcement came as the space agency canceled Thursday’s scheduled spacewalk due to the issue.
Station commander Fincke and flight engineer Cardman were slated to carry out a 6.5-hour spacewalk Thursday to install external hardware on the ISS.
Pictured is Crew-11 before launching to the ISS. It is not known which astronaut was hit with the medical issues
‘Due to medical privacy, it is not appropriate for NASA to share more details about the crew member,’ NASA shared in a statement.
‘The situation is stable. NASA will share additional details, including a new date for the upcoming spacewalk, later.’
While it is rare for a spacewalk to be postponed, it is not unprecedented. A mission was canceled in 2021 when Mark Vande Hei experienced a pinched nerve and was unable to travel outside the ISS.
Another spacewalk in 2024 was called off at the last minute because an astronaut experienced ‘spacesuit discomfort.’
Astronauts typically live in six to eight-month rotations on the ISS, with access to basic medical equipment and medications for some types of emergencies.
However, NASA has never ordered a medical evacuation from space before.
If an evacuation occurs, astronauts would likely board their docked commercial crew capsule that took them to the ISS.
Crew-11 arrived at the ISS on August 2, 2025, meaning their return date is scheduled in late February.
NASA is considering a rare evacuation of its crew from the International Space Station (ISS) over an unspecified medical issue involving one of the astronauts
The four astronauts would leave after Crew-12 arrived, no earlier than February 15, to take their places.
The ISS is required to have astronauts aboard at all times, as they are essential to carry out maintenance, repairs, operate complex experiments, manage life support and perform spacewalks, tasks that automation cannot fully handle, ensuring constant human oversight for safety and scientific output.
Even when two astronauts were stranded in space, NASA did not pull the plug to bring them home.
Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore made headlines in June 2024 when they took off to the ISS aboard a Boeing capsule, which malfunctioned before docking with the space station.
The Boeing craft, named Starliner, returned to Earth without the crew, leaving them in space until March 18, 2025.
There were calls for NASA to bring Williams and Wilmore home early, but the agency said that, due to no medical issues, the crew could stay until the next rotation.
