NASA is considering an unusual early return for a four-person team aboard the International Space Station following a sudden health concern involving one of its astronauts, the agency revealed Wednesday evening.

This unexpected development concerning Crew-11 emerged shortly after the cancellation of a scheduled spacewalk on Thursday. The abrupt change has prompted NASA to reassess its plans and priorities.

“Ensuring the safety of our missions remains our utmost priority, and we are currently evaluating all options, which include potentially concluding Crew-11’s mission earlier than planned,” a NASA spokesperson stated. “Our teams are specifically trained for such scenarios and are prepared to handle them with the utmost care. We anticipate providing more details within the next 24 hours.”

While the space agency did not disclose the identity of the astronaut or the exact nature of the medical issue, it confirmed that the crew member is stable and continues to receive care on the space station. This situation underscores the unpredictable nature of space missions and the rigorous preparations NASA undertakes to manage them effectively.

The agency didn’t identify the astronaut or specify the medical emergency that arose Wednesday afternoon, but said the crew member is in stable condition on the orbiting laboratory.

Astronauts generally spend up to eight months on the ISS and are equipped with basic medical supplies and medications to treat certain health issues during their stay.

Crew-11 — made up of US astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Russia’s Oleg Platnov — launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon and docked at the ISS in August.

They were expected to return in May.

Fincke, the station’s commander, and Cardman, the flight manager, were scheduled to leave the space station on Thursday and conduct a nearly 7-hour spacewalk to install hardware outside.

In recent years, other planned spacewalks were suddenly called off, including one last year when an astronaut experienced “spacesuit discomfort.”

US astronaut Mark Vande Hei also canceled his spacewalk in 2021 over a pinched nerve.

With Post wires.