NASA, SpaceX sets January 14 for ISS's first medical evacuation

Washington: NASA and SpaceX are preparing for a historic medical evacuation from the International Space Station (ISS), with four crewmembers expected to return to Earth as early as Thursday, the space agency announced.

The mission, designated Crew-11, is slated to undock from the orbital laboratory no earlier than 5 p.m. ET on Jan. 14 (03:30 a.m. IST on Jan 15). A splashdown off the coast of California is targeted for early Jan. 15, contingent on favourable weather and recovery operations.

The decision marks the first time in the 25-year history of the ISS that a mission has been truncated for medical reasons. NASA officials have not disclosed the identity of the affected astronaut or the specific nature of the condition, citing medical privacy. However, they emphasised that the situation did not arise from an onboard injury.

"Because the astronaut is absolutely stable, it's not an emergent evacuation. We're not immediately disembarking and getting the astronaut down," said Dr James Polk, NASA’s chief health and medical officer. He added, however, that the limitations of microgravity diagnostics leave a "lingering risk" that necessitates a return to Earth for proper treatment.

Mission Background and Continuity

The Crew-11 team, comprising NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, Kimiya Yui of Japan (JAXA), and Oleg Platonov of Russia (Roscosmos), has been aboard the station since Aug. 1. While the crew was originally scheduled to remain in orbit for approximately six months, their departure will move up their homecoming by several weeks.

To ensure a continued American presence, NASA astronaut Chris Williams, who arrived on a separate mission in November, will remain on the ISS. Agency officials indicated that the launch of the next U.S. rotation, Crew-12, could be moved up from its mid-February target to minimise the period of reduced staffing.

Future of the Orbital Lab

The ISS has been continuously inhabited since November 2000, serving as a critical testing ground for long-duration spaceflight research essential for future missions to Mars.

Under current plans, the station is set to be decommissioned after 2030. It will eventually be guided into a controlled deorbit, where it is expected to break up in the atmosphere over Point Nemo, a remote region of the South Pacific known as a "spacecraft graveyard."

With inputs from AFP