NASA Medical Evacuation from Space: Successful Splashdown
- NASA is bringing its Crew-11 astronauts home early due to a medical issue affecting one of the crew members.
- "Because the astronaut is absolutely stable, this is not an emergent evacuation," said James "JD" Polk, NASA's chief medical officer, during a press conference last week.
- Although NASA hasn't disclosed the astronaut's specific condition, Polk explained there was "lingering risk" to their health if they stayed in orbit.
NASA is bringing its Crew-11 astronauts home early due to a medical issue affecting one of the crew members. While the astronaut is stable, officials determined the risk of remaining in orbit outweighed the benefits of completing the full mission.
“Because the astronaut is absolutely stable, this is not an emergent evacuation,” said James ”JD” Polk, NASA’s chief medical officer, during a press conference last week. “We’re not promptly disembarking and getting the astronaut down.” Amit Kshatriya, the agency’s associate administrator, described the situation as a “controlled medical evacuation” in a briefing with reporters.
Although NASA hasn’t disclosed the astronaut’s specific condition, Polk explained there was “lingering risk” to their health if they stayed in orbit. This led NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman and his team to shorten the Crew-11 mission.
A First for NASA
The Crew-11 mission began August 1 and was originally scheduled to last until around february 20, coinciding with the arrival of SpaceX’s Crew-12. The early return means the International Space Station will operate with a crew of three until Crew-12 launches next month.
NASA astronaut Chris Williams will be solely responsible for maintaining the US segment of the station. He launched in November alongside Russian cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergey Mikayev on a Russian Soyuz vehicle.As the Crew Dragon served as the emergency return vehicle for all four Crew-11 astronauts, standard protocol requires the entire team to return with the ailing crew member.
The space station frequently functioned with only three crew members during its first decade. The station has been continuously occupied as 2000, and has sometimes operated with as few as two astronauts or cosmonauts.