Space skeleton crew: Just 3 astronauts will run the ISS after Crew-11's medical evacuation
Space••general
Key Points:
- NASA announced the early return of SpaceX Crew-11's four astronauts to Earth due to a health issue affecting one crew member, leaving the ISS with only three astronauts aboard.
- The remaining crew will be NASA's Christopher Williams and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikayev; Williams will be solely responsible for the American segment of the ISS with extensive support from ground control and his Russian colleagues.
- The reduction to a three-person crew will limit ISS operations, including the suspension of spacewalks and reduced scientific work, increasing vulnerability to hardware malfunctions.
- The health issue emerged before a planned January 8 spacewalk by Crew-11 astronauts Mike Fincke and Zena Cardman, which was
