NASA to Stage First-Ever Space Medical Evacuation for Astronaut

NASA will conduct a medical evacuation in the coming days of an astronaut suffering an undisclosed ailment aboard the International Space Station, agency officials said.

The early return will mark the first time in NASA’s history that the agency has cut short a crewed mission already in space for medical reasons.

“The astronaut is absolutely stable,” James Polk, NASA’s chief health and medical officer, told reporters on Thursday. “We’re not immediately disembarking and getting the astronaut down, but it leaves that lingering risk and lingering question as to what that diagnosis is.”

The astronaut will return with the three ...