NASA has confirmed it will bring a full four-person crew back early from the International Space Station after one astronaut developed a medical issue, an unusual step that prompted the agency to postpone a planned spacewalk and reassess station operations.
The space agency said the medical problem emerged on Wednesday, January 7, affecting a single, unnamed Crew-11 astronaut. NASA stressed the crew member's condition is stable and that there is no immediate danger, but the incident was serious enough to trigger contingency procedures.
As a result, NASA scrubbed a spacewalk scheduled for Thursday that would have advanced work on a new solar array. Astronauts Mike Fincke and Zena Cardman had been due to spend about six and a half hours outside the station, in what would have been Cardman's first spacewalk.
"Safely conducting our missions is our highest priority," a NASA spokesperson said, adding that the agency is actively evaluating all options and has decided an early end to Crew-11's mission is the safest course of action.
Crew-11 arrived at the ISS on August 2, 2025, for what was originally planned as a six-month stay. Alongside Fincke and Cardman, the crew includes Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Kimiya Yui and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov. Early returns of an entire ISS crew are rare and require complex coordination of spacecraft availability, station staffing and launch schedules.
NASA has not said how the accelerated return will affect the upcoming launch of Crew-12, currently scheduled for mid-February, or the longer-term rotation aboard the station. Other astronauts and cosmonauts remain on the ISS, including crew members who arrived on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft late last year.