Entire Space Station Down to Skeleton Crew After NASA Evacuation

"Roughly a day later, NASA held a news conference, officially announcing the first medical evacuation in the space station's 25-year history. The four Crew-11 astronauts, who arrived at the station in early August, were originally scheduled to return to Earth next month. However, thanks to the medical incident, they boarded their SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule weeks early on Wednesday afternoon, safely splashing down off the coast of San Diego in the early morning hours of Thursday."

""For over 60 years, NASA has set the standard for safety and security in crewed spaceflight," said NASA administrator Jared Isaacman at last week's news conference. "In these endeavors, including the 25 years of continuous human presence on board the International Space Station, the health and the well-being of our astronauts is always and will be our highest priority." That means the space station has gone from seven crew members down to a " skeleton crew" of three: NASA astronaut Christopher Williams, and cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergey Mikaev, who arrived at the station in November on board a Russian Soyuz spacecraft."

NASA postponed a January 8 spacewalk after a single crew member suffered a medical incident aboard the International Space Station and was reported stable. The agency then announced the first medical evacuation in the station's 25-year history. The four Crew-11 astronauts boarded their SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule weeks early and splashed down off the coast of San Diego. The station's crew complement dropped from seven to a three-person "skeleton crew": NASA astronaut Christopher Williams and cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergey Mikaev. Officials emphasized that astronaut health is the highest priority and that Williams is trained and supported to perform required tasks.

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