First spacewalk of 2026 postponed after astronaut suffers medical emergency

NASA has cancelled the first spacewalk of 2026 that was supposed to happen on Thursday (January 8). According to reports, a medical issue involving one of the crew members aboard the International Space Station (ISS) led to the decision. The space agency has not disclosed the name of the astronaut and the nature of the problem. The health concern is said to have risen on Wednesday afternoon, and the astronaut is stable, NASA wrote in a blog post. "The situation is stable. NASA will share additional details, including a new date for the upcoming spacewalk, later," the post said. Astronauts Mike Fincke, the ISS commander, and Zena Cardman, a flight engineer, were scheduled to conduct the spacewalk lasting around 6 and a half hours. No information regarding the next date for the spacewalk has been given.

Meanwhile, NASA is also considering returning Crew 11 early. "Safely conducting our missions is our highest priority, and we are actively evaluating all options, including the possibility of an earlier end to Crew-11's mission," a NASA spokesperson said in a statement. Crew-11 crew consists of US astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov and Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yu.

NASA astronauts spacewalk postponed

The two astronauts were supposed to emerge from the station’s Quest airlock at approximately 8 am ET on Thursday. While this was Cardman’s first spacewalk, Fincke was due to go on his 10th. It would have tied him with Peggy Whitson for the most spacewalks by a NASA astronaut. The duo was supposed to prepare the 2A power channel where a roll-out solar array could be installed in future. The power is supposed to keep the ISS running in the last stretch of its time in space before it is de-orbited in 2030. The Roll-Out Solar Array (ROSA) and its larger version, the ISS Roll-Out Solar Array (iROSA), are flexible solar power sources for spacecraft. They are alternatives to existing solar array technologies and are compact and more affordable.

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A second spacewalk is also due to happen a week from now. Two other NASA astronauts will exit the space station on January 15 to replace a high-definition camera, install a new docking aid for spacecraft coming to the ISS, and relocate several cooling hoses. However, the postponement of today's spacewalk could lead to a delay in the second one as well. The astronauts for the second spacewalk are yet to be named.