Sick astronaut on ISS forces early command transfer from NASA crew member to Russian cosmonaut
NASA astronaut and ISS leader Mike Fincke transferred command of the station to a Russian cosmonaut before an unprecedented medical evacuation
Screenshot via NASA YouTube
The command of the International Space Station (ISS) has changed. In a ceremony at the station on Monday, NASA astronaut Mike Fincke handed over charge of ISS Expedition 74 to Russian cosmonaut Sergei Kud-Sverchkov.
Finke thanked his fellow crew members on the ISS when handing command over to Kud-Sverchkov, saying it was great to serve alongside the Russian cosmonauts before personally thanking each of the other Expedition 74 crewmen.
“It’s bittersweet,” Finke said during live-stream ceremonyWhich was broadcast from ISS. Finke then handed over a key to the ISS to Kud-Sverchakov.
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Before giving his first command, Kud-Sverchkov said: “Despite all the changes and all the difficulties, we are going to do our work on the ISS, do all the scientific work, maintenance work here, no matter what.”
The exchange came after NASA ordered the evacuation of four astronauts who are currently on the ISS after one of them fell ill; NASA described the unidentified crew member as “stable” but has not released any further details about their identity or condition. The departing quartet includes Crew-11: Finke, fellow NASA astronaut Zena Cardman, Japan’s Kimiya Yui and astronaut Oleg Platonov.
Despite the fact that it was only one of them who inspired such an unprecedented move, all seven members of Campaign 74 appeared and spoke during Monday’s broadcast.
Their departure will reduce the number of people aboard the station to just three – NASA’s Chris Williams and astronauts Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev, who together make up the Soyuz MS-28 crew.
The departing astronauts are expected to exit the station on Wednesday, before they touch down on the coast of California early Thursday morning local time.
NASA has not released any details about what exactly happened on the station to prompt the evacuation, but the situation is a first: The agency has never before been able to bring a crew home from the ISS prematurely due to a medical problem. Officials have not disclosed which crew member was affected or what problems they faced.
Monday’s command handover was also unusual: Finke’s early departure meant station command passed to the next highest-ranking crew member on the ship, Kud-Sverchkov. Before the evacuation was ordered, Fincke had expected to transfer leadership of the station to incoming Crew-12 commander, Jessica Meyer – who is scheduled to arrive at the ISS in February along with three other Crew-12 members.
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