NASA cancels spacewalk and could end current space station crew

A spacewalk scheduled for Thursday outside the International Space Station was canceled Wednesday night due to a “medical concern” with an unidentified crew member, NASA said in a statement.

An update shortly before midnight said the agency was exploring “all options, including the possibility of an earlier end to Crew 11’s mission.”

“These are the situations that NASA and our partners train for and prepare to execute safely,” the update said. “We will provide further updates within the next 24 hours.”

While NASA did not identify the astronaut in question or explain the medical issue (a standard practice due to privacy concerns), the agency said “the matter involved a single crew member who is in stable condition.”

Space station commander Mike Fincke, flight engineer Zena Cardman, Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov blasted off to the space station aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon ferry in August. 1.

Heading into the new year, the crew is expected to remain in space until their replacements arrive in mid-February. Crew 11 is expected to return to Earth around February 20. That remains the official plan.

Meanwhile, Cardman, 38, and Fincke, 58, a veteran of nine spacewalks on previous missions, planned to venture outside the station on Thursday to finish building a truss needed to support a deployable solar panel array and carry out other planned maintenance work.

A second spacewalk by two astronauts, yet to be announced, was planned for next week.

But NASA canceled the first spacewalk early Wednesday, saying that “the agency is monitoring a medical concern with a crew member that arose Wednesday afternoon. Due to medical privacy, it is not appropriate for NASA to share further details about the crew member.”

“The situation is stable. NASA will share additional details later, including a new date for the next spacewalk.”

In a brief space-to-ground radio exchange just after 2:30 p.m. EST, Yui called mission control in Houston and requested a private medical conference, or PMC.

Mission Control responded that a PMC would eventually be established, using a private radio channel. Yui then asked if a flight surgeon was available and if the flight controllers had a live camera from inside the station.

“Houston, do we still have a camera view in the lab on Node 2, uh, 3?” -Yui asked.

“We don’t have internal cameras at this time, but we can include the lab view if you wish,” the mission control communicator responded.

“I appreciate it,” Yui replied. Then he asked, “Do you have, like, a crew surgeon?… A flight surgeon?”

No additional exchanges were heard. Later on Wednesday, NASA’s space station audio feed, which normally streams live 24 hours a day on YouTube, went silent without explanation.