Washington: NASA has ordered its first-ever medical evacuation from the International Space Station after an astronaut aboard the orbiting laboratory fell seriously ill, forcing the early return of a four-member crew.
The US space agency said the US-Japanese-Russian team, led by American commander Zena Cardman, will return to Earth in the coming days, cutting short a mission that was expected to last at least six months.
Officials declined to identify the affected astronaut or disclose details of the illness, citing medical privacy, but confirmed the condition was serious enough to warrant evacuation.
The decision follows a series of urgent developments earlier this week after the medical issue emerged on Wednesday. NASA was forced to cancel its first planned spacewalk of the year as doctors assessed the situation. While the astronaut is now considered stable, officials said there remains a lingering risk, and the condition has not been fully diagnosed.
The crew arrived at the space station aboard a SpaceX capsule in August. Alongside Cardman, the team includes veteran US astronaut Mike Fincke, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov. Only one crew member is unwell, but all four must return to ensure there are never more astronauts aboard the station than available emergency seats in docked spacecraft.
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NASA officials said the illness could not be properly treated on the station and that bringing the astronaut home was the safest option. They added that if the situation had become an emergency, the crew could have departed within hours.
Serious medical issues have occurred on the space station before, including a previous case involving a blood clot, but none had required a full medical evacuation in the station’s 25-year history. The only comparable case dates back to 1985, when a Soviet cosmonaut returned early from a space station mission due to severe illness.
The evacuation will not leave the station unmanned. Three other astronauts, including one American and two Russians, remain aboard after arriving in November for an eight-month mission.
NASA plans to retire the ageing space station by late 2030 or early 2031, bringing it out of orbit in a controlled descent so that most of the structure burns up safely over the ocean.
