NASA sends 4 astronauts back to Earth in first medical evacuation

An astronaut in need of doctors care departed the International Space Station with three crewmates on Wednesday in NASAs first medical evacuation The four returning astronauts from the US Russia and Japan are aiming for an early Thursday morning splashdown in the Pacific near San Diego with SpaceX The decision cuts short their mission by over a month Our timing of this departure is unexpected NASA astronaut Zena Cardman said before the return trip but what was not surprising to me was how well this crew came together as a family to help each other and just take care of each otherOfficials refused to identify the astronaut who needed care last week and would not divulge the health concerns The ailing astronaut is stable safe and well cared for outgoing space station commander Mike Fincke said earlier this week via social media This was a deliberate decision to allow the right medical evaluations to happen on the ground where the full range of diagnostic capability existsLaunched in August Cardman Fincke Japans Kimiya Yui and Russias Oleg Platonov should have remained on the space station until late February But on January 7 NASA abruptly canceled the next days spacewalk by Cardman and Fincke and later announced the crews early return Officials said the health problem was unrelated to spacewalk preparations or other station operations but offered no other details citing medical privacy They stressed it was not an emergency situationNASA said it would stick to the same entry and splashdown procedures at flights end with the usual assortment of medical experts aboard the recovery ship in the Pacific It was another middleofthenight crew return for SpaceX coming less than 11 hours after undocking from the space station NASA said it was not yet known how quickly all four would be flown from California to Houston home to Johnson Space Center and the base for astronautsOne US and two Russian astronauts remain aboard the orbiting lab just 1 12 months into an eightmonth mission that began with a Soyuz rocket liftoff from Kazakhstan NASA and SpaceX are working to move up the launch of a fresh fourperson crew from Florida currently targeted for midFebruaryComputer modeling predicted a medical evacuation from the space station every three years but NASA hasnt had one in its 65 years of human spaceflight The Russians have not been as fortunate In 1985 Soviet cosmonaut Vladimir Vasyutin came down with a serious infection or related illness aboard his countrys Salyut 7 space station prompting an early return A few other Soviet cosmonauts encountered less serious health issues that shortened their flightsIt was the first spaceflight for Cardman a 38 biologist and polar explorer who missed out on spacewalking as well as Platonov 39 a former fighter pilot with the Russian Air Force who had to wait a few extra years to get to space because of an undisclosed health issue Cardman should have launched last year but was bumped to make room on the way down for NASAs Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams who were stuck nearly a year at the space station because of Boeings capsule problemsFincke 58 a retired Air Force colonel and Yui 55 a retired fighter pilot with the Japan Air SelfDefense Force were repeat space fliers Finke has spent 1 12 years in orbit over four missions and conducted nine spacewalks on previous flights making him one of NASAs top performers Last week Yui celebrated his 300th day in space over two station stays sharing stunning views of Earth including Japans Mount Fuji and breathtaking aurorasI want to burn it firmly into my eyes and even more so into my heart Yui said on the social platform X Soon I too will become one of those small lights on the groundNASA officials had said it was riskier to leave the astronaut in space without proper medical attention for another month than to temporarily reduce the size of the space station crew by more than half Until SpaceX delivers another crew NASA said it will have to stand down from any routine or even emergency spacewalks a twoperson job requiring backup help from crew inside the orbiting complexThe medical evacuation was the first major decision by NASAs new administrator Jared Isaacman The billionaire founder of a payment processing company and twotime space flier assumed the agencys top job in December The health and the wellbeing of our astronauts is always and will be our highest priority Isaacman said in announcing the decision last weekThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever