Overview
- U.S. spacewalk 94, planned for January 8 with Mike Fincke and Zena Cardman for about 6.5 hours, was postponed after a medical issue involving one crew member.
- NASA says the astronaut is stable, has not identified the individual due to medical privacy, and will provide an update within 24 hours as it evaluates options including an earlier end to Crew-11.
- The postponed EVA was to prepare the ISS 2A power channel for the final ISS Roll-Out Solar Arrays, part of power upgrades needed to operate the station through its planned deorbit around 2030.
- A second EVA targeted for January 15 and near-term cargo operations face uncertainty, with schedule pressure from a SpaceX Cargo Dragon departure planned around January 21 and Japan’s HTV-X late in the month.
- On Wednesday, JAXA astronaut Kimiya Yui requested a private medical conference over the space-to-ground loop and NASA’s usual live station audio later went silent, consistent with routine on-orbit medical privacy procedures.