Space agency said crew of four will leave ISS next week with goal of touching down in California on 15 January
Nasa has announced when it will commence its first medical evacuation from the International Space Station after an astronaut fell ill with a “serious” but undisclosed issue.
The US space agency announced on social media on Friday night that it will aim to have the crew leave the station no earlier than 5pm EST on Wednesday, 14 January, with the goal of them landing near California early on Thursday morning, 15 January, “depending on weather and recovery conditions”.
“After discussions with chief health and medical officer Dr James Polk and leadership across the agency, I’ve come to the decision that it’s in the best interest of our astronauts to return Crew-11 ahead of their planned departure,” Nasa’s administrator, Jared Isaacman, said at a briefing on Thursday.
This is the first medical evacuation from the space station in its 25-year history. An astronaut in the orbital laboratory reportedly fell ill with a “serious” but undisclosed issue. Nasa also had to cancel its first spacewalk of the year.
