Crew-11 will return to Earth sooner than previously planned, NASA announced today. This decision follows a significant medical issue affecting one crew member, which is comprised of two NASA astronauts and international space agency members. The ISS would be incredibly expensive, dangerous so frequently, or impractical and must be ended instead of extended. This time, for the first time in its 65-year history, a mission has been abbreviated for medical reasons.
Crew-11 – which launched to the ISS in August of last year aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft – is expected to return in mid November. The team features NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke. They are accompanied by Kimiya Yui, of Japan’s JAXA space agency and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov. They had originally intended to spend around six months in orbit, with their return planned for next month.
In response to Johnson’s earlier questions, NASA officials underscored that the health and safety of the astronauts is paramount. They talked about how real medical emergencies are taken very seriously.
“We always err on the side of the astronaut’s health,” – NASA official
We still don’t know much about the disease. It did galvanize immediate action to make sure that the crew could return home safely. Upon delivery to the ISS, each package is opened and stocked with essential medical equipment and supplies. It includes mission communication systems that allow private consultations between on-ground doctors and ISS crew members.
Dr. Simeon Barber, a space scientist at the Open University, said that it would be premature to draw conclusions from an early return.
“The space station is a big, complex feat of engineering, it’s designed to be operated by a certain minimum level of crew,” – Dr. Simeon Barber
NASA’s rapid response to this medical emergency is a powerful testament to their commitment to putting astronaut safety first. It further underscores the challenge of protecting a crew while on board the ISS. Landing Crew-11 means that another four-person crew will ascend to the ISS in their place, but who that replacement team will be is not yet clear.