WASHINGTON, January 8, 2026, 16:54 EST
- NASA is weighing a rare early return for its SpaceX Crew-11 team after an astronaut medical issue.
- A planned spacewalk was called off, with the affected crew member described as stable.
- NASA is due to brief media from Washington later on Thursday.
NASA is considering ending the Crew-11 mission early and bringing its astronauts home from the International Space Station after an unspecified medical issue hit one crew member, prompting the cancellation of a planned spacewalk, the agency said. NASA described the astronaut as stable and did not identify the person, citing medical privacy. 1
NASA will host a live news conference at 5 p.m. EST on Thursday from its Washington headquarters to discuss the space station and its crew. The participants listed include NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, associate administrator Amit Kshatriya and Dr. James Polk, NASA’s chief health and medical officer. 2
The timing matters because the station calendar is tight and any early undocking can ripple quickly. Spaceflight Now reported the next U.S. crew rotation flight, SpaceX’s Crew-12, is currently slated for no earlier than Feb. 15, and it is unclear how much flexibility exists to move it up. “It is on orbit, waiting to be installed. We just have to go out there and install it,” Bill Spetch, an operations integration manager for NASA’s ISS Program, said, referring to hardware tied to upcoming power work. 3
NASA first disclosed the situation on Wednesday, saying it was postponing the Jan. 8 spacewalk after a “medical concern” arose that afternoon aboard the orbiting complex. The agency said it would share additional details, including a new date for the spacewalk, later. 4
In an overnight email update cited by Space.com, NASA said it was “actively evaluating all options, including the possibility of an earlier end to Crew-11’s mission,” and promised further updates within 24 hours. Crew-11 includes NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, Japan’s Kimiya Yui and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, Space.com reported. 5
The canceled outing was an extravehicular activity, or EVA — a spacewalk — that had been expected to run about 6.5 hours starting around 8 a.m. ET, with Fincke and Cardman scheduled to work outside the station, Space.com reported. The job list included preparations for installing an International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Array (iROSA), a fold-out panel designed to add power and support the station’s eventual controlled deorbit. 6
Crew-11 flew to the station on a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule under NASA’s commercial crew program, which has become the main ride for U.S. astronauts to and from orbit. The station’s seven-person crew also includes members launched on Russia’s Soyuz spacecraft, underscoring the mixed-vehicle setup NASA and its partners use to keep the outpost staffed.
But the agency has not said what the medical problem is, or how long it might limit work, leaving open a wide range of outcomes from a quick return to a short pause in station activities. A decision to end the mission early could squeeze maintenance and spacewalk timelines, while a decision to stay put would depend on how the crew member responds in the days ahead.
NASA is expected to provide more detail at the Washington briefing later Thursday, and has said it will update again within 24 hours.
