NASA said Wednesday it was postponing Thursday's spacewalk, citing “medical issues” with one of the crew members.
The space agency did not provide additional information on the issue or name the astronaut.
“Due to NASA medical confidentiality, it is not appropriate to disclose more detailed information about the crew member,” the space agency said in a statement. statement. “The situation is stable. NASA will share additional details, including a new date for the upcoming spacewalk.”
Two NASA astronauts – Mike Finke and Zena Cardman – were scheduled to emerge from an airlock aboard the International Space Station on Thursday to complete preparations for the power channel where a new solar array will be installed.
The spacewalk will be the first for Cardman, a 38-year-old geobiologist who was selected to join the astronaut corps in 2017.
Finke, who has been an astronaut since 1996, previously participated in nine spacewalks. If he steps outside the space station again, he will become the sixth American astronaut to complete 10 spacewalks, Bill Spetch, NASA's manager of orbiting laboratory operations integration, said during a briefing Wednesday.
NASA doesn't typically share details about medical issues faced by astronauts. Information about the effects of spaceflight on the human body or other medical problems encountered during missions is usually published as part of broader scientific research and studies, and specific astronauts are usually not identified.
Conditions such as space adaptation syndrome — an ailment characterized by vomiting and dizziness that many astronauts experience during the first hours of microgravity — came into the spotlight only after years of research and discoveries in scientific journals. However, this disease is common and affects astronauts even at the beginning of space flights.
During the space flight, a case was also identified in which an astronaut suffered from jugular vein thrombosis, a dangerous condition in which a blood clot can form in a person’s jugular vein. academic journal. personality Information about the injured astronaut has never been made public.
Additionally, after the SpaceX Crew-8 mission returned from the space station in October 2024, one of the four crew members developed a “health issue” and was taken to a hospital in Florida.
The space agency did not provide further details at the time, saying only that the crew member was “in stable condition” and “under observation as a precaution.” The identity of the crew member is still unknown.
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