For the first time in the history of the International Space Station (ISS), the American space agency NASA has brought a crew back to Earth early due to medical problems. In a “Crew Dragon” from the manufacturer SpaceX, which is part of the tech billionaire Elon Musk’s corporate empire, the four astronauts landed off the California coast near San Diego in the Pacific at 9:41 a.m. Central European Time.
Almost eleven hours earlier, the capsule with the two American astronauts Zena Cardman and Michael Fincke, the Japanese Kimiya Yui and the Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonow had set off from the ISS, where this crew stayed for a total of 167 days. They arrived there as “Crew 11” on August 1st and were actually not supposed to return to Earth until the second half of February.
But last week, NASA first canceled an external mission on the ISS at short notice due to health problems of a crew member – and then announced that it would bring the entire four-person crew back to Earth early because of the problem.
NASA did not want to comment on the identity of the crew member or details of the health problems. The crew member is in stable condition.
What astronauts learn in an emergency
Because they have to act themselves in an emergency, astronauts always receive medical training. “Doctors can provide telemedical care for astronauts, but ultimately they have to cope up there on their own,” said Bimba Hoyer, a flight doctor at the European Space Agency Esa.
The medical training before a mission takes place in the hospital, among other places. According to ESA, astronauts learn, among other things, how to draw blood, sew a wound, pull a tooth and insert a temporary filling. They are also able to perform resuscitation measures as well as ultrasound and eye examinations.
On board the ISS, a special medical checklist with clear instructions helps diagnose and treat sick or injured crew members, said Hoyer. There is also an extensive on-board pharmacy. “The crew has at its disposal several medicine bags with aspirin or other mild medicines and an emergency kit containing painkillers, anesthetics, medicines for dental treatment, bandages, stethoscope, defibrillator and other more complex instruments and medicines for life support,” says ESA.
