NASA has spent the last few weeks preparing for two spacewalks on the International Space Station (ISS), the first in eight months.
But just hours before NASA astronauts Mike Fincke and Zena Cardman were scheduled to begin the first of two walks on Thursday, NASA announced that it was postponing the event due to “medical concerns with a crew member that occurred aboard the orbital complex on Wednesday afternoon.”
The US space agency declined to provide further information about the postponement, including which of the two astronauts was affected.
“For medical privacy reasons, it is not appropriate for NASA to share further details about the crew member,” NASA said, adding that “the situation is stable” and that it would share more details later, including a new date for the upcoming spacewalk.
Fincke and Cardman were on track to begin their spacewalk at 8 a.m. ET on Thursday. When it finally takes place, it will be the tenth for Fincke in his long spaceflight career and the first for Cardman, who first arrived in orbit in August 2025.
During their upcoming spacewalk, the couple’s primary task will be installing a conversion kit and laying cables for a future roll-out solar array. Other tasks include installing jumper cables, taking hardware photos, and collecting samples of microorganisms.
It is not clear whether the postponement will affect the timing of the second spacewalk, currently scheduled for January 15. NASA has not yet announced the names of the two astronauts who will take part in the second spacewalk.
Whenever the spacewalks take place, NASA will broadcast both events live on NASA+, Amazon Prime and the agency’s YouTube channel.
The streams will closely track the astronauts as they work outside the space station about 250 miles above Earth. You can also listen in on astronauts communicating with Mission Control at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. A NASA official will also provide live commentary at any time, explaining what is happening.
