Overview
- Chief medical officer James Polk said a persistent risk and uncertainty regarding the diagnosis led to the decision, emphasizing it is not an emergency evacuation.
- The affected astronaut was not identified and was described as stable, with no details released about the medical issue.
- A planned January 8 spacewalk was postponed because of the health concern.
- Crew-11—Zena Cardman, Mike Fincke, Kimiya Yui, and Oleg Platonov—arrived in August on a SpaceX Crew Dragon for a roughly six‑month mission that included Artemis-related simulations.
- NASA says the return will minimize disruption to ISS operations, with one U.S. astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts remaining aboard, and the next U.S. launch may be advanced.