NASA has set a target date for the ISS Crew-11’s early return to earth. www.nasa.gov/...
- Undocking: 5 p.m. EST, Wednesday, Jan. 14
- Splashdown: 3:40 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 15, off the coast of CA
- Crew: NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, JAXA astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov.
This is in response to a “medical concern” with one of the crew members. Due to medical privacy, NASA has not identified the crew member or shared any details.
The change of command ceremony will take place on Monday, Jan. 12. NASA astronaut Mike Fincke will hand command of Expedition 74 aboard the orbital complex to Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Kud-Sverchkov. www.nasa.gov/...
The decision to bring the four members of Crew-11 back early was announced at a press conference on Thursday, Jan 8.
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Station Commander Mike Fincke and Flight Engineer Zena Cardman were scheduled to conduct their mission’s first spacewalk at 8 a.m. EST on Jan 8. The duo’s primary task during the 6.5 hour spacewalk was to install a modification kit and routing cables for a future roll-out solar array. Secondary tasks included installing jumper cables, taking hardware photos, and collecting microorganism samples. www.nasa.gov/...
A decision was made on Jan 7 to postpone the spacewalk, due to “a medical concern with a crew member.” www.nasa.gov/…
There are 7 spacecraft docked at the ISS at this time.
The ISS orbits around earth at ~500 km altitude and NASA has spacecraft, procedures and training for such emergencies.
From dailygalaxy.com/…
This medical evacuation brings into sharp focus the challenges faced by NASA and its partners in ensuring astronaut health while in space. Space is an unforgiving environment, where gravity, radiation, and isolation can have profound effects on human health.
NASA has a robust medical protocol for space missions, including monitoring astronauts for any signs of medical distress, but situations like this prove that there are still gaps in the system. Advanced diagnostics and treatment options are not immediately available in space, and that makes it essential for any serious health condition to be evaluated on Earth where the necessary resources exist.
Now let’s imagine similar situations arising with astronauts on the moon or Mars or on en route to Mars, millions of km away. Do NASA’s private partnerships with SpaceX and others have procedures in place to handle such emergencies? Should humans be sent to Mars, frail as we are and evolved to live in the safe confines of Earth, until we figure out how to survive in space and in the super-harsh environment of Mars? Or is the tech-bros talk of the imminent colonization of Mars just a fraud meant to keep people distracted while they destroy earth (and LEO space) in their quest for power, control and wealth?
