NASA Delays Spacewalk After Medical Concern Involving Astronaut

New Delhi- NASA on Thursday postponed a scheduled spacewalk after a medical concern arose involving one of its astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

Two Expedition 74 astronauts — Mike Fincke and Zena Cardman — were set to carry out the first spacewalk of 2026. The mission involved exiting the ISS airlock to undertake power system upgrade work. However, the US space agency decided to delay the activity without disclosing details of the medical issue or identifying the astronaut affected.

In a blog post, NASA stated, “The agency is postponing the Thursday, January 8, spacewalk outside the International Space Station. NASA is monitoring a medical concern with a crew member that arose Wednesday afternoon aboard the orbital complex.”

Citing medical privacy, NASA said it would not share further information but confirmed that the situation is stable. “NASA will provide additional updates, including a new target date for the spacewalk, at a later time,” the agency added.

The planned six-and-a-half-hour spacewalk was to be led by Station Commander Fincke and Flight Engineer Cardman. Their objectives included installing a modification kit and routing cables in preparation for a future roll-out solar array. Additional tasks involved fitting jumper cables, photographing hardware, and collecting samples of microorganisms.

The postponed spacewalk was expected to be the first for Cardman, a 38-year-old geobiologist who joined NASA’s astronaut corps in 2017.

Earlier on Wednesday, Fincke and Cardman had organised tools and equipment inside the Quest airlock, where they were scheduled to begin the mission. They also completed preparations of their spacesuits, including life support and emergency systems.

Before concluding their shift, they were joined by NASA Flight Engineer Chris Williams and JAXA astronaut Kimiya Yui for a final review of spacewalk procedures and a readiness briefing with ground-based mission controllers. Williams and Yui were assigned to assist with suit operations, airlock pressurisation and depressurisation, and to monitor the astronauts during the spacewalk.

With inputs from IANS