Unseen on the ISS: Due to a health issue, the entire crew of Crew 11 is being returned early

Crew 11 includes NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov. They arrived at the ISS in early August 2025 and were supposed to stay until May 2026, but now they will return ‘in the coming days’, earlier than planned.

Due to the situation, moreć canceled the planned spacewalk on January 8, in which Cardman and Fincke were supposed to make preparations for the future installation of solar panels. On January 7, NASA said in a short announcement that the health problem occurred the day before in the afternoon, that the condition is stable and that due to medical privacy, they would not share the details.

Reuters writes that NASA administrator Jared Isaacman said that diagnostics and treatment require capabilities that are not available on the ISS, which is why they are going for an earlier return. In a recent announcement, NASA adds that it is discussing with SpaceX and international partners options for the return of Crew 11 and the possibility of moving the launch of Crew 12 forward, in order to properly cover the crew’s schedule on the station.

It is also important what this means for the station: the ISS always has a ‘rescue vehicle’ for return, today it is the Crew Dragon and Soyuz, but this scenario with the earlier return of the entire foursome due to one member has never happened before. The AP states that other astronauts and cosmonauts will remain on the ISS and that the work of the station continues as normal, with adjustments to the schedule.