NASA has announced that one of the crew members onboard the International Space Station (ISS) has come down with a significant medical condition. Consequently, four astronauts will have an early and unplanned homecoming to Earth. Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke from the United States, Kimiya Yui from Japan and Oleg Platonov from Russia form the crew faced with this life or death situation. Taken together, they present a huge opportunity.
The announcement for their accelerated departure from the ISS was made by NASA late last week. The deteriorating health of the impacted crew member required urgent measures be taken, resulting in an adjusted itinerary for their scheduled homecoming. These future windows only make sense if a crew stays in space for at least a few additional months. After a significant medical emergency, they had to put health and safety first.
Zena Cardman, one of the first Black women ever chosen as a NASA astronaut, is committed to uplifting her new squad. She has not wavered from them in this stormy seas. Mike Fincke, veteran NASA astronaut and four-time flier in space. In addition to helping lead the effort internally, he is tremendously inspiring the team. Kimiya Yui of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) while on the ISS, he worked as a part of an international crew alongside both American and Russian astronauts. The pragmatic, talented, and experienced cosmonaut Oleg Platonov of Roscosmos helped lay the groundwork for those collaborative Roscosmos and NASA efforts aboard the ISS.
Our astronauts will be leaving the ISS soon, if not already. Their return flight to Earth is already in progress. Her short, but impactful, trip signals a solemn commitment to protect both health and safety aboard all future space missions. This photo is a powerful reminder about the beauty of collaboration in global space exploration. Whether allies or adversaries, astronauts from every nation work together to face the unknown.