NASA to hold first-ever early ISS command change due to crew illness

NASA is considering a rare early return of its crew from the International Space Station over an unspecified medical issue involving one of the astronauts, after canceling a planned spacewalk that had been scheduled for Thursday (January 8), the agency said.

A statement posted by NASA said the astronaut with the medical concern, whom they did not identify, was in a stable condition on the orbiting laboratory.

Astronauts typically live in six to eight-month rotations on the ISS, with access to basic medical equipment and medications for some types of emergencies.

The four-person Crew-11 crew includes U.S. astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov. They have been on the space station since launching from Florida in August and were scheduled to return around May this year.

Production: Kokkai Ng/Rueters