\n NASA\u2019s newly appointed administrator, Jared Isaacman<\/a> \u2014 who has twice flown to orbit on private SpaceX missions \u2014 said he made the call to bring the group of four astronauts home.\n <\/p>\n \n Isaacman said during a news briefing Thursday that his decision was informed by the fact that four crew members are slated to launch to the space station on NASA\u2019s Crew-12 mission in the coming weeks, and the agency is assessing ways to expedite that launch. The mission had been slated to take off around mid-February.\n <\/p>\n \n The Crew-11 team will depart the space station within \u201cdays,\u201d Isaacman said.\n <\/p>\n \n NASA revealed the astronaut\u2019s medical concern on Wednesday when it announced that the agency was opting to postpone a spacewalk, citing the undisclosed \u201cmedical concern.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThese are the situations NASA and our partners train for and prepare to execute safely,\u201d NASA noted in a statement.\n <\/p>\n \n When the Crew-11 astronauts return, it will leave only one NASA astronaut on board the football-field-size orbiting laboratory: Chris Williams, who arrived at the space station in late November on board a Russian Soyuz capsule as part of a ride-sharing agreement between the US and Russia.\n <\/p>\n \n Officials on Thursday said Williams is well prepared to handle any tasks that come his way, and they are confident he will be joined shortly by the Crew-12 astronauts to return staffing to normal levels.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThis is one of the reasons why we fly mixed crews on Soyuz and US vehicles \u2014 because we want to make sure we have operators for both (the US and Russian) segments\u201d of the space station, said Amit Kshatriya, NASA\u2019s associate administrator.\n <\/p>\n \n Dr. Farhan Asrar, a space medicine researcher and associate dean at the Toronto Metropolitan University School of Medicine, told CNN via email that health care providers face unique challenges attempting to treat or diagnose astronauts as they orbit more than 200 miles (320 kilometers) above Earth. The limitations can turn even common ailments \u2014 such as toothaches or ear pain \u2014 into difficult medical conundrums.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cEven though astronauts undergo frequent and ongoing health checks, the extreme environment of space does put a significant strain on health (stress on the heart, bone, eyes, kidneys, mood and other systems),\u201d Asrar said.\n <\/p>\n \n NASA\u2019s decision to withhold the affected astronaut\u2019s name and details about their condition follows a long-established pattern. Information about the impact of spaceflight on the human body or other medical concerns that occur during missions are generally made public as part of broader scientific studies and research, and specific astronauts are not usually identified.\n <\/p>\n \n Conditions such as space adaptation syndrome<\/a> \u2014 an ailment characterized by vomiting and vertigo that is experienced by many astronauts during their first hours in microgravity \u2014 only came into focus after years of research and revelations in academic journals. The condition is common, however, and has affected astronauts dating back to the beginning of spaceflight.\n <\/p>\n \n An incident in which an astronaut experienced a case of jugular venous thrombosis, a dangerous condition in which a blood clot can form in a person\u2019s jugular vein, was also revealed in an academic journal. The identity<\/a> of the astronaut impacted has never been made public.\n <\/p>\n \n Additionally, after SpaceX\u2019s Crew-8 missions returned from the space station in October 2024, one of the four crew members experienced a \u201cmedical issue\u201d<\/a> and was flown to a hospital in Florida.\n <\/p>\n \n The space agency did not provide further details at the time, saying in a statement only that the crew member was \u201cin stable condition\u201d and \u201cunder observation as a precautionary measure.\u201d The identity of the crew member is still unknown.\n <\/p>\n \n Over the past 25 years that the space station has operated, NASA has worked to respond to a \u201chost\u201d of medical issues, Polk noted during the Thursday briefing.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cFortunately for us, we\u2019ve had equipment and medications and things to be able to handle all of those such that we were able to complete the treatment and or the diagnosis on orbit,\u201d Polk said.\n <\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/gettyimages-2227269222.jpg\")
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