NASA to bring astronauts home early due to mystery 'medical concern' aboard International Space Station
The US space agency announced an abrupt end to its mission which was due to end in mid-February
NASA has announced it has abruptly ended its mission aboard the International Space Station amid an undisclosed medical issue with one of its astronauts.
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The unidentified crew member has been taken ill and the American space agency has said it will cut short the current mission so they can be seen by medical professionals on the ground.
The announcement came after a planned spacewalk was cancelled earlier on Thursday.
The crew member is said to be stable, and the end to the mission is not being described as an emergency evacuation.
NASA Chief Health and Medical Officer Dr. James D. Polk said in a press conference that the ISS is equipped with a "robust suite of medical hardware," but it is lacking tools needed to complete a full overview of the astronauts condition.
He added that the medical issue has risen to the level where NASA would prefer to "complete that workup on the ground."
NASA previously suggested it was looking into all options to deal with the situation, including an end to the mission being undertaken by Crew 11.
Currently aboard the ISS are commander Mike Fincke, flight engineer Zena Cardman, Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov.
This is a breaking news story. More to follow.