NASA Plans to Rescue Ill Astronaut in Space
International Space Station (ISS) astronauts are being brought back to Earth early after one crew member became ‘seriously ill’.
The crew began their mission on the ISS last August.The evacuation will be the first since ISS missions began.
The crew member’s condition is stable, but the illness forced the cancellation of a spacewalk.
The International Space Station will temporarily operate with a reduced crew after the departure of the Crew-11 mission. Launched to the ISS in August 2025 aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon, the four-person team was scheduled to spend roughly six months in orbit and return in late February 2026 after being replaced by another four-person crew.
If Crew-11 returns in full, three astronauts will remain on the station: NASA astronaut Chris Williams and two Russian cosmonauts, Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikayev.
