NASA postpones spacewalk due to ‘medical concern’ with crew member

By Simgenur Akbolat

ISTANBUL (AA) - NASA postponed a spacewalk scheduled for Thursday outside the International Space Station (ISS) due to a “medical concern” with a crew member.

"The agency is monitoring a medical concern with a crew member that arose Wednesday afternoon aboard the orbital complex,” the US space agency said in a statement late Wednesday.

It did not share further details “due to medical privacy,” but said: "The situation is stable."

The agency added it will later share additional details, including a new date for the upcoming spacewalk.

NASA earlier said Expedition 74, which began on Dec. 8, 2025 and will end in summer 2026, was making final preparations for the first spacewalk of 2026.

Station Commander Mike Fincke and Flight Engineer Zena Cardman were on track to conduct their mission's first spacewalk set to begin at 8 am US eastern time (1300GMT) Thursday.

The spacewalk was planned for about 6.5 hours to support solar array upgrades and routine maintenance as part of power channel preparations for new solar arrays.