Four astronauts have departed from the International Space Station (ISS) to return to Earth after a medical issue cut their mission short by a month. This marks NASA’s first medical evacuation in its history.
American astronauts Mike Fincke and Zena Cardman, along with Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov and Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui, undocked from the ISS at 2220 GMT on Wednesday. They had been on the station for five months.
“It’s unexpected to leave early, but our crew came together like a family,” Cardman said before the flight home. NASA hasn’t revealed the specific health issue affecting one crew member but has assured everyone that the situation is not an emergency.
NASA’s Rob Navias confirmed that the affected astronaut is stable. The SpaceX Dragon capsule is set to splash down off the California coast at around 0840 GMT on Thursday. Fincke shared on social media, “Everyone on board is safe and well cared for. This decision allows for the best medical care back on Earth.”
Interestingly, computer models predicted the possibility of a medical evacuation every three years, but NASA hasn’t experienced one in its 65 years of human spaceflight. In contrast, Soviet cosmonauts faced several medical challenges in the past. For example, in 1985, Soviet cosmonaut Vladimir Vasyutin had to return early from the Salyut 7 space station due to a serious infection.
James Polk, NASA’s chief health and medical officer, cited “lingering risk” as the reason for the early return. Meanwhile, American astronaut Chris Williams and Russian cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev remain at the ISS.
Until SpaceX can deliver another crew, NASA must pause all routine and emergency spacewalks. The ISS, continuously inhabited since 2000, represents a collaboration between various nations, including the U.S. and Russia. Despite their political differences, both agencies cooperatively manage space travel, sharing duties in transporting astronauts.
The responding astronauts had received training for medical emergencies, showing how prepared astronauts are for unexpected challenges in space.
For more on space health and advancements, you can check out NASA’s extensive resources here.
In a time when international cooperation in space is critical, this incident serves as a reminder of the complexities involved in human space exploration.
