NASA’s medical evacuation of four astronauts from the International Space Station (ISS) is officially underway. On Wednesday at 5:20 p.m. EST, a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule carrying members of Crew-11 blasted off from the station to begin a 10.5-hour long journey to Earth.
The capsule is carrying NASA astronauts Mike Fincke and Jenna Cardman, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Kimiya Yui and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov. One of the four—NASA has not identified—experienced an unknown medical problem, the agency announced last week. The crew member is reported to be “stable” since the incident.
The ISS is equipped with a range of medical equipment, medicines and diagnostic equipment, meaning that most minor illnesses such as cuts and scrapes can be treated on the station. Even teeth can be extracted and ultrasounds can be done. But NASA decided that whatever happened was serious enough to abort the crew’s mission a month earlier than planned and return them home – the first time this has happened in the history of the ISS.
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Returning Crew Dragon Capsule set to print Off the coast of San Diego, California, at approximately 3:41 a.m. EST. Recovery teams from SpaceX and NASA will be waiting on the water to meet the crew. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman will speak to the media shortly thereafter.
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