Serious Medical Issue aboard the ISS

[HavokFour]

One astronaut affected, but the entire 4 member team Crew-11 will be returning early. Leaving 1 American and 2 Russian cosmonauts aboard the station. A first in NASA's entire history.

They gave few details, but said the medical issue was not related to space operations, and was not an injury.

Astronaut's 'serious medical condition' forces Nasa to end space station mission early

It is the first time in Nasa's over-65 year history that a mission will return early due to a health issue.

www.bbc.com

 

[OldSolduer]

WOW that is amazing.

 

[Oldgateboatdriver]

Planned for all the time ... just in case. Their vehicle on which they came is attached to the station. If one has to return, all must return, otherwise the remainders would be stuck up there, not to mention that balance for the reentry is calculated on the basis of the capsule being occupied by four people with their known weight distribution.

 

[Blackadder1916]

WOW that is amazing.

Not really. While newsworthy, it should not be unexpected. All things being considered (physiological stresses of space training and flight, age of astro/cosmonauts, etc), eventually there would be a medical event that would require care beyond the limited resources in the ISS. Probably the closest equivalents on Earth (in terms of isolation) would be submarines or Antarctic stations in winter. Or, since someone will probably mention it, Alert. But even there is not that isolated - while rare, medical evacuation was not unexpected (I did one medevac there about 40 years ago).

Illness and injuries during spaceflight - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org