As NASA weighs whether to bring Crew-11 home early from the International Space Station due to a medical issue involving one of the astronauts, here’s what you need to know about the crew.
NASA astronauts Mike Fincke and Zena Cardman were preparing for a upcoming morning spacewalk Jan. 7, when the preparation was halted. According to NASA, an unidentified crew member experienced a medical issue. Identity and medical information were not released by NASA due to privacy laws, but the agency said the astronaut was in stable condition.
Initially, NASA suggested the spacewalk might be rescheduled but later the space agency said they looking at additional options for crew safety, including possibly returning Crew-11 earlier than planned.
But just who is Crew-11?
Who is NASA Crew-11?
The four astronauts launched back in August 2025 aboard a SpaceX Dragon from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Pad 39A.
In addition to NASA astronauts Fincke and Cardman, the crew includes JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov. The four were onboard the ISS for NASA’s latest crew rotation and planned to stay for a six to eight month mission.
Crew-11 marked the 11th crew rotation and 12th overall astronaut launch by SpaceX under contract for NASA.
How long was Crew-11 expected to be on the ISS?
Crews usually stay on the station until the next crew arrives and a handover period is completed. NASA’s Crew-12 is slated to launch no earlier the Feb. 15. Crew-11 planned to return shortly afterward in late February.
Also onboard the ISS are NASA astronaut Chris Williams and cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergey Mikayev, who launched on a Soyuz from Russia’s Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Thanksgiving Day.
If Crew-11 needs to return early, they would return on the SpaceX Dragon they flew up on.
Leaving the ISS early would leave one American astronaut onboard. This is unless NASA and SpaceX are able to launch the upcoming Crew-12 mission early.
Has an astronaut mission ended early before?
Should Crew-11 come to an early end, it would not be the first time a mission ended early.
“It’s very rare for a crew to curtail a mission due to a medical issue,” Space Historian Emily Carney wrote to FLORIDA TODAY.
“The last time a crew had to leave a space station for medical reasons was in November 1985, a little over 40 years ago, when the crew of Soyuz T-14 had to return to Earth two months into a six-month mission aboard Salyut 7. The crew’s commander, Vladimir Vasyutin, had an infection that necessitated a return to Earth,” said Carney.
This means it would be a first for the ISS, which has seen long-duration crews since 2000.
Carney explained that during stays on the ISS, which can range from six months to a year, medical issues are not unheard of. However, they are usually minor and resolved while remaining onboard.
While a return was not needed, Carney said a significant event took place in 2019 when an unidentified crew member experienced a blood clot in the jugular vein. The condition was successfully managed with blood thinners and the astronaut safely completed the scheduled mission.
On a minor note, Carney mentioned astronauts can experience space adaptation sickness, which is motion sickness experienced as astronauts first adapt to the microgravity environment. This is unlikely to be the case now as the crew has been in orbit for more than five months.
The Starliner incident indirectly led to Crew-11’s lineup
Problems back in 2024 with the Boeing Starliner flight test — which made headlines with the extended stay of two astronauts — led to several changes in crew rotations. So Crew-11 included familiar astronauts who were reassigned from earlier missions.
Fincke was originally slated to fly on Starliner’s first crew rotation mission, as was Yui. Both were reassigned to this SpaceX Dragon mission.
Going further back, Fincke was originally set to fly on that ill-fated Starliner flight test. Instead, Fincke became a backup astronaut, with NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore becoming the final Starliner flight test crew.
For reference, it was Wilmore and Williams who traveled to the ISS aboard Boeing’s Starliner in June 2024 on a test flight intended to certify the spacecraft for NASA missions alongside SpaceX’s Dragon. However, helium leaks and a thruster malfunction occurred before they docked safely.
This directly influenced NASA’s Crew-9, which launched with only two crew members to allow for the return of Williams and Wilmore. Zena Cardman, who is currently on the ISS, was one of the astronauts removed from the Crew-9 flight.
Williams and Wilmore arrived back on Earth in March 2025, splashing down off the Gulf Coast of Florida in that Crew-9 Dragon spacecraft. Cardman finally got her chance to fly to the ISS with Crew-11.
“Life is a journey. It takes many turns, and I’m just grateful to be here,” Cardman said during a July 2025 press conference.
Brooke Edwards is a Space Reporter for Florida Today. Contact her at bedwards@floridatoday.com or on X: @brookeofstars.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: With astronaut medical issue on ISS, here’s a look at NASA’s Crew-11
Reporting by Brooke Edwards, Florida Today / Florida Today
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