Medical issue forces NASA to postpone spacewalk and consider an early crew return
An unspecified medical issue by one crew member on ISS last night forced NASA to postpone a planned spacewalk — even as the astronauts were suiting up — and consider bringing the crew back early.
The agency is monitoring a medical concern with a crew member that arose Wednesday afternoon aboard the orbital complex. Due to medical privacy, it is not appropriate for NASA to share more details about the crew member. The situation is stable.
At this moment, we know nothing more, including the name of the astronaut with the problem. Though the crew member is “stable,” it does appear the condition is serious, as it apparently developed quite abruptly, based on the public communications feed.
In a brief space-to-ground radio exchange just after 2:30 p.m. EST, Yui called mission control in Houston and asked for a private medical conference, or PMC. Mission control replied that a PMC, using a private radio channel, would be set up momentarily. Yui then asked if a flight surgeon was available and if flight controllers had a live camera view from inside the station.
“Houston, do we still have, like, a camera view in Node 2, uh, 3, lab?” Yui asked.
“We don’t have any internal cameras right now, but we can put the lab view in if you’d like,” the mission control communicator replied.
“I appreciate that,” Yui replied. He then asked: “Do you have like a crew surgeon? … A flight surgeon?”
No additional exchanges were heard. Later Wednesday, NASA’s space station audio stream, normally carried live around-the-clock on YouTube, went silent without explanation.
Though NASA has never had to return a crew early due to an emergency medical situation, the Russians in the Soviet era did so twice. In 1976 on the Salyut 5 station the crew couldn’t get along, with one member becoming paranoid and both claiming (falsely) that the station’s atmosphere was becoming unbreathable. The crew came home early, but the next crew found nothing wrong with the station.
Then during a mission in 1985 mission to the Salyut-7 space station, one astronaut developed a prostate condition that also cancelled a spacewalk and eventually required an early return to Earth.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
An unspecified medical issue by one crew member on ISS last night forced NASA to postpone a planned spacewalk — even as the astronauts were suiting up — and consider bringing the crew back early.
The agency is monitoring a medical concern with a crew member that arose Wednesday afternoon aboard the orbital complex. Due to medical privacy, it is not appropriate for NASA to share more details about the crew member. The situation is stable.
At this moment, we know nothing more, including the name of the astronaut with the problem. Though the crew member is “stable,” it does appear the condition is serious, as it apparently developed quite abruptly, based on the public communications feed.
In a brief space-to-ground radio exchange just after 2:30 p.m. EST, Yui called mission control in Houston and asked for a private medical conference, or PMC. Mission control replied that a PMC, using a private radio channel, would be set up momentarily. Yui then asked if a flight surgeon was available and if flight controllers had a live camera view from inside the station.
“Houston, do we still have, like, a camera view in Node 2, uh, 3, lab?” Yui asked.
“We don’t have any internal cameras right now, but we can put the lab view in if you’d like,” the mission control communicator replied.
“I appreciate that,” Yui replied. He then asked: “Do you have like a crew surgeon? … A flight surgeon?”
No additional exchanges were heard. Later Wednesday, NASA’s space station audio stream, normally carried live around-the-clock on YouTube, went silent without explanation.
Though NASA has never had to return a crew early due to an emergency medical situation, the Russians in the Soviet era did so twice. In 1976 on the Salyut 5 station the crew couldn’t get along, with one member becoming paranoid and both claiming (falsely) that the station’s atmosphere was becoming unbreathable. The crew came home early, but the next crew found nothing wrong with the station.
Then during a mission in 1985 mission to the Salyut-7 space station, one astronaut developed a prostate condition that also cancelled a spacewalk and eventually required an early return to Earth.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Mr. Z.,
–What type of contingency plans were in effect for the Apollo program, as far as emergency first-aid?
Has anyone ever broken a bone in Space?
What is the occurrence of the “common-cold” or the “flu” on the ISS?
Wayne: No bones have ever been broken in space. Some astronauts I think have developed colds on ISS but as far as I know no one has ever gotten seriously ill or gotten the flu.
As for the Apollo program, they had first aid kits on board, and also were required to consult the NASA doctor regularly (whom the astronauts generally hated). In general, however, NASA considered the missions short enough that there was little to worry about. The astronauts’ health was well vetted, and each mission included a long quarantine period beforehand.
Didn’t Fred Haise contract a urinary tract infection on Apollo 13? Apparently that first aid kit didn’t include penicillin.
I wonder if the next crew mission to ISS could be moved up a few weeks.
Now think: Uh oh, I am on my way to Mars OR are on Mars, now what?
pzatchok,
Probably not by enough to be worth the trouble. Crew-12 is scheduled for launch about five weeks from now. The last two of those weeks will be the pre-flight crew quarantine. The longer we go without a premature return of Crew-11, the less sense there is in trying to speed up Crew-12.
Cotour,
If you find yourself on the way to Mars you will be going in lots of company. SpaceX plans to send multi-ship armadas to Mars even in the early going. Each could easily carry an MD or two and several people with nursing, paramedic and/or combat medic training and experience. Starships will be big enough to allow for a surgical suite aboard each equipped with surgical robot tech and all other latest bells and whistles. A Mars settler will have access to far more conveniently accessible medical care than you or I do right now. Medical responders will be mere yards away and zero-G will make transport to sick bay both far quicker and smoother than a terrestrial ambulance run.
Hmmmmmm…….Mars & SpaceX. Initially, SpaceX will be sending unmanned Starships to Mars. I wonder if they will spin/rotate some of those unmanned Starships, to generate, create gravity for the long trip? When humans finally do board Starships bound for Mars, it will prevent, lessen the muscle deterioration we already see in LEO.
There will certainly have to be extensive medical considerations, systems and professionals included on a trip to Mars because once you are going there is no turning around.
If and when it happens, no doubt it will be an interesting ride to say the least.
“In general, however, NASA considered the missions short enough that there was little to worry about. The astronauts’ health was well vetted, and each mission included a long quarantine period beforehand.”
Just so. It was a higher risk for lunar missions, obviously, because one trans-lunar injection was initiated, it would be several days before an Apollo crew could get back to Earth, no matter what the urgency was. Otherwise, the mission protocols for Mercury, Gemini and Apollo seem to have consistently been to terminate the mission promptly and return to Earth. This was even the case on Skylab 2, which was the first NASA mission with a medical doctor on the crew (Dr Joseph Kerwin, who is still alive, by the way).
By the way, it has already been pointed by some observers that if Crew-11 does have to terminate early for this, this development would be a vindication for the seat swap agreement with ROSCOSMOS, because NASA’s Christoper Williams would still remain on board to keep the US Orbital Segment of the ISS up and running, because he arrived as part of Soyuz MS-28. (There would be very little research done, however, because basic maintenance would take up virtually all of Williams’ time.) Some of us have been critical of this agreement, but there’s no denying that this would be a case where it would be advantageous for NASA.
Live NASA press conference now underway (began at 5pm EST) on this development.
Looks like they are coming back shortly. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman says Crew-11 will depart the ISS “in the coming days” because of the medical concern with a crew member announced yesterday. No changes to deorbit, splashdown, or crew recovery procedures.
Another revelation: An earlier launch of Crew 12 (currently set for NET February 15, 2026) is being evaluated, but no specifics have been decided yet.
Hello Dick,
“Starships will be big enough to allow for a surgical suite aboard each equipped with surgical robot tech and all other latest bells and whistles.”
Yeah, no doubt about that. The tricky part will be that, even if the Mars-bound Starship is given a slow axial rotation (as Elon has suggested), it will still be basically a microgravity environment on board, and will make most surgeries much more problematic. Once they are on Mars, however, that 0.38 gravity *should* be sufficient for any operation in whatever medical facility is established at Musk Base One, though of course I say that with the caveat that we have yet to see a surgical operation actually performed in 0.38G….
I think that, at least until Mars cyclers with artificial gravity are set up, we are simply going to have to accept that there is going to be an elevated risk for any medical emergencies in Mars transit, and SpaceX are just going to have to work to minimize the chances of such emergencies occurring en route to the extent that is feasible. But you are not going to get the risk to zero, and as Rand Simberg has argued, insisting on trying to do so will make human exploration and settlement of outer space impossible.
Richard M: You should refresh your browser. You are missing my report on this briefing.
I believe the bigger medical issue will be the potential psychological issue. Not everyone will be able to keep their mind in the proper mind set given the fact that you are at least a year and a half from returning to earth if you become panicked that you are where you are.
Not one earth orbit away, not 3 days from the moon away.
One and a half years traveling to and from or so, not a month, not a week, not 3 days in an enclosed “Biosphere 2” like environment, has got to have a great potential to make you crazy.
All happening at Zero G’s or 1/3rd the gravity of earth.
I think we will go to Mars for a visit.
I went camping in Northern California for about a week, halfway through for some reason all I could think about was jellied spearmint leaf candies and a char broiled hamburger. I could not get it out of my mind. It got so strong we had to trek down to a town to satisfy my obsession.
You get my point.
Hello Bob,
Sorry about that — I was in transit between posts, and indeed, I had failed to refresh when I got back home. I only saw your new post after I submitted that comment!
Cotour wrote, “I believe the bigger medical issue will be the potential psychological issue. Not everyone will be able to keep their mind in the proper mind set given the fact that you are at least a year and a half from returning to earth if you become panicked that you are where you are.”
Yup, that’s why no one could ever cross the Atlantic in those tiny sailing ships. The time spent isolated on the ocean was too much, and everyone went insane. That’s why the New World remains unoccupied to this very day!
These “psychological issues” have been overplayed by the entertainment industry, helped by NASA scientists who want to get funding, for more than half a century. Past generations would have found the suggestion not only absurd, but downright insulting. People are far more resilient. Those who might have these issues will self-select themselves out. And those that fail to do so will be a relatively small number.
The ones that head towards mars and other long range destinations will be selected for probability to handle the distance and isolation. However, don’t be surprised if there are occasional fatalities equivalent to washed overboard and lost at sea. Someone that loses it becoming a danger to the ship and crew will likely have a fairly low life expectancy.
That is harsh. Is it as harsh as the real possibility of the whole crew dying?