NASA Holds Off ISS Spacewalk After Health Situation

(MENAFN) NASA has called off Thursday's planned spacewalk outside the International Space Station following an unexpected health situation involving one of the astronauts.

The American space administration disclosed the cancellation late Wednesday, revealing that it is "monitoring a medical concern with a crew member that arose Wednesday afternoon aboard the orbital complex."

Additional information about the affected astronaut's condition remains undisclosed "due to medical privacy," though officials confirmed "the situation is stable."

NASA indicated it would release further information at a later time, including when the postponed extravehicular activity will be rescheduled.

The spacewalk was intended as the inaugural outside mission for Expedition 74, the current ISS crew rotation that launched December 8, 2025, and is set to conclude during summer 2026. Final preparations for the 2026 calendar year's first spacewalk were already underway when the medical issue emerged.

Station Commander Mike Fincke and Flight Engineer Zena Cardman had been preparing to exit the station at 8 am US eastern time (1300GMT) Thursday for the mission's opening spacewalk.

The approximately 6.5-hour operation was designed to advance solar array enhancement work and perform standard maintenance tasks connected to power channel readiness for incoming solar arrays.

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