NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said during a press conference held on Thursday that the agency decided not to complete the mission until its planned end in February, indicating that the details of the crew’s safe return will be resolved within the next 48 hours.

Isaacman explained that the decision came “in the interest and safety of the astronauts,” stressing that the health condition classified as “serious enough” necessitated taking this exceptional measure.

The decision came less than 24 hours after canceling a spacewalk mission scheduled for Thursday, as NASA officials explained that they preferred to exercise the utmost caution in order to preserve the safety of the injured astronaut.

NASA’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. James Polk, confirmed that the astronaut is not in immediate danger, and that his condition is stable and that he is receiving medical care from his colleagues on board the station until he returns to Earth, pointing out that the health problem is not related to spacewalks or any other operational activity.

Polk added, without revealing medical details, that the condition is “most likely related to zero-gravity conditions,” stressing that there is no need to take special precautions during the waiting period.

The Crew-11 crew consists of four astronauts: Zina Cardman and Mike Finke from NASA, Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Russian Oleg Platonov.

They were recently joined by Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata and NASA astronaut Chris Williams, who arrived at the station aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft in November 2025.

Isaacman explained that Williams will remain on board the station with the Soyuz crew to ensure the continued American presence in space, in implementation of the requirements for the continued operation of the International Space Station.

The NASA director pointed out that the agency has evacuation plans integrated into all station missions, even though it had not previously been forced to carry out an actual evacuation for medical reasons, stressing that the return vehicles remain in a permanent state of readiness.

In response to questions about implementing an emergency landing to speed up the return, Isaacman said that the agency is “studying an appropriate timing to use the current landing sites,” without resorting to an unsafe flight window.

He explained that the Crew-11 mission arrived at the International Space Station on August 1, 2025, and was scheduled to return in late February, after the Crew-12 mission arrived on board SpaceX’s “Dragon” capsule no later than February 15.

Isaacman indicated that any potential modification to the Crew-12 launch schedule will not affect the “Artemis 2” mission, which is scheduled to be launched in February 2026, explaining that the two missions are “completely separate.”

“Artemis 2” is the first manned space flight to orbit the moon since 1972.

Operational rules require the presence of astronauts on board the International Space Station at all times, given their vital role in maintenance and repair, operating complex scientific experiments, managing life support systems, and carrying out spacewalks, tasks that cannot be fully automated by automated systems.

It is noteworthy that the International Space Station has not previously witnessed the evacuation of a crew before the end of its mission, despite the cancellation of a number of spacewalk missions in recent years for health reasons, including the cancellation of a mission in 2021 due to astronaut Mark Vande Heij suffering from nerve compression, and another in 2024 due to one of the astronauts feeling uncomfortable inside the spacesuit.

Source: Daily Mail

NASA develops a new device to “gazing at the sun”

The US space agency, NASA, has developed a new instrument to study the Sun, and the Solar Spectral Irradiance Sensing Observatory (TSIS-1) became fully operational this month, after being installed on the International Space Station.