NASA has announced plans for the first medical evacuation in International Space Station history, with four Crew-11 astronauts set to return to Earth on January 14-15. While officials confirmed the evacuation isn't emergency-critical, the decision marks an unprecedented operational adjustment for the 26-year-old orbital laboratory.
The affected crewmember remains stable according to NASA's X statement, which emphasized the evacuation doesn't stem from any onboard injury. The early return shortens Crew-11's six-month mission by approximately three weeks, with American astronauts Mike Fincke and Zena Cardman joining Japan's Kimiya Yui and Russia's Oleg Platonov in the SpaceX capsule descent.
American astronaut Chris Williams will maintain U.S. presence aboard the ISS, which continues preparations for its post-2030 decommissioning. NASA officials hinted at potential schedule changes for subsequent missions but provided no specifics during Thursday's briefing.
Since its 2000 commissioning, the ISS has hosted over 3,000 research experiments critical for future Mars missions. Its planned 2030 retirement will conclude with a controlled atmospheric reentry near Point Nemo – the remote Pacific region serving as spacecraft graveyard.
