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Tag: Science

  • New research bolsters evidence that Tylenol doesn’t raise the risk of autism despite Trump’s claims

    A new review of studies has found that taking Tylenol during pregnancy doesn’t increase the risk of autism, ADHD or intellectual disabilities — adding to the growing body of research refuting claims made by the Trump administration.President Donald Trump last year promoted unproven ties between the painkiller and autism, telling pregnant women: “Don’t take Tylenol.”Related video above — Stop Overpaying for Meds: Smart Ways to Cut Prescription CostsThe latest research review, published Friday in The Lancet Obstetrics, Gynecology & Women’s Health, looked at 43 studies and concluded that the most rigorous ones, such as those that compare siblings, provide strong evidence that taking the drug commonly known as paracetamol outside of the U.S. does not cause autism, ADHD or intellectual disabilities.It’s “safe to use in pregnancy,” said lead author Dr. Asma Khalil. “It remains … the first line of treatment that we would recommend if the pregnant woman has pain or fever.”While some studies have raised the possibility of a link between autism risk and using Tylenol, also known as acetaminophen, during pregnancy, more haven’t found a connection.A review published last year in BMJ said existing evidence doesn’t clearly link the drug’s use during pregnancy with autism or ADHD in offspring. A study published the previous year in the Journal of the American Medical Association also found it wasn’t associated with children’s risk of autism, ADHD or intellectual disability in an analysis looking at siblings.But the White House has focused on research supporting a link.One of the papers cited on its web page, published in BMC Environmental Health last year, analyzed results from 46 previous studies and found that they supported evidence of an association between Tylenol exposure during pregnancy and increased incidence of neurodevelopmental disorders. Researchers noted that the drug is still important for treating pain and fever during pregnancy, but said steps should be taken to limit its use.Some health experts have raised concerns about that review and the way Trump administration officials portrayed it, pointing out that only a fraction of the studies focus on autism and that an association doesn’t prove cause and effect. Khalil, a fetal medicine specialist at St. George’s Hospital, London, said that review included some studies that were small and some that were prone to bias.The senior author of that review was Dr. Andrea Baccarelli, dean of the faculty at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, who noted in the paper that he served as an expert witness for plaintiffs in a case involving potential links between acetaminophen use during pregnancy and neurodevelopmental disorders. Baccarelli did not respond to an email seeking comment on his study.Overall, Khalil said, research cited in the public debate showing small associations between acetaminophen and autism is vulnerable to confounding factors. For example, a pregnant woman might take Tylenol for fevers, and fever during pregnancy may raise the risk for autism. Research can also be affected by “recall bias,” such as when the mother of an autistic child doesn’t accurately remember how much of the drug she used during pregnancy after the fact, Khalil said.When researchers prioritize the most rigorous study approaches – such as comparing siblings to account for the influence of things like genetics – “the association is not seen,” she said.Genetics are the biggest risk factor for autism, experts say. Other risks include the age of the child’s father, preterm birth and whether the mother had health problems during pregnancy.In a commentary published with the latest review, a group of researchers who weren’t involved — from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Children’s Hospital Colorado and elsewhere —cautioned that discouraging the use of acetaminophen during pregnancy could lead to inadequate pain or fever control. And that may hurt the baby as well as the mother. Untreated fever and infection in a pregnant woman poses “well-established risks to fetal survival and neurodevelopment,” they said.The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

    A new review of studies has found that taking Tylenol during pregnancy doesn’t increase the risk of autism, ADHD or intellectual disabilities — adding to the growing body of research refuting claims made by the Trump administration.

    President Donald Trump last year promoted unproven ties between the painkiller and autism, telling pregnant women: “Don’t take Tylenol.”

    Related video above — Stop Overpaying for Meds: Smart Ways to Cut Prescription Costs

    The latest research review, published Friday in The Lancet Obstetrics, Gynecology & Women’s Health, looked at 43 studies and concluded that the most rigorous ones, such as those that compare siblings, provide strong evidence that taking the drug commonly known as paracetamol outside of the U.S. does not cause autism, ADHD or intellectual disabilities.

    It’s “safe to use in pregnancy,” said lead author Dr. Asma Khalil. “It remains … the first line of treatment that we would recommend if the pregnant woman has pain or fever.”

    While some studies have raised the possibility of a link between autism risk and using Tylenol, also known as acetaminophen, during pregnancy, more haven’t found a connection.

    A review published last year in BMJ said existing evidence doesn’t clearly link the drug’s use during pregnancy with autism or ADHD in offspring. A study published the previous year in the Journal of the American Medical Association also found it wasn’t associated with children’s risk of autism, ADHD or intellectual disability in an analysis looking at siblings.

    But the White House has focused on research supporting a link.

    One of the papers cited on its web page, published in BMC Environmental Health last year, analyzed results from 46 previous studies and found that they supported evidence of an association between Tylenol exposure during pregnancy and increased incidence of neurodevelopmental disorders. Researchers noted that the drug is still important for treating pain and fever during pregnancy, but said steps should be taken to limit its use.

    Some health experts have raised concerns about that review and the way Trump administration officials portrayed it, pointing out that only a fraction of the studies focus on autism and that an association doesn’t prove cause and effect. Khalil, a fetal medicine specialist at St. George’s Hospital, London, said that review included some studies that were small and some that were prone to bias.

    The senior author of that review was Dr. Andrea Baccarelli, dean of the faculty at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, who noted in the paper that he served as an expert witness for plaintiffs in a case involving potential links between acetaminophen use during pregnancy and neurodevelopmental disorders. Baccarelli did not respond to an email seeking comment on his study.

    Overall, Khalil said, research cited in the public debate showing small associations between acetaminophen and autism is vulnerable to confounding factors. For example, a pregnant woman might take Tylenol for fevers, and fever during pregnancy may raise the risk for autism. Research can also be affected by “recall bias,” such as when the mother of an autistic child doesn’t accurately remember how much of the drug she used during pregnancy after the fact, Khalil said.

    When researchers prioritize the most rigorous study approaches – such as comparing siblings to account for the influence of things like genetics – “the association is not seen,” she said.

    Genetics are the biggest risk factor for autism, experts say. Other risks include the age of the child’s father, preterm birth and whether the mother had health problems during pregnancy.

    In a commentary published with the latest review, a group of researchers who weren’t involved — from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Children’s Hospital Colorado and elsewhere —cautioned that discouraging the use of acetaminophen during pregnancy could lead to inadequate pain or fever control. And that may hurt the baby as well as the mother. Untreated fever and infection in a pregnant woman poses “well-established risks to fetal survival and neurodevelopment,” they said.

    The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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  • NASA’s new moon rocket heads to pad ahead of astronaut launch as early as February

    CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA’s giant new moon rocket headed to the launch pad Saturday in preparation for astronauts’ first lunar fly-around in more than half a century.

    The out-and-back trip could blast off as early as February.

    The 322-foot (98-meter) rocket began its 1 mph (1.6 kph) creep from Kennedy Space Center’s Vehicle Assembly Building at daybreak. The four-mile (six-kilometer) trek could take until nightfall.

    Thousands of space center workers and their families gathered in the predawn chill to witness the long-awaited event, delayed for years. They huddled together ahead of the Space Launch System rocket’s exit from the building, built in the 1960s to accommodate the Saturn V rockets that sent 24 astronauts to the moon during the Apollo program. The cheering crowd was led by NASA’s new administrator Jared Isaacman and all four astronauts assigned to the mission.

    “What a great day to be here,” said Reid Wiseman, the crew commander. “It is awe-inspiring.”

    Weighing in at 11 million pounds (5 million kilograms), the Space Launch System rocket and Orion crew capsule on top made the move aboard a massive transporter that was used during the Apollo and shuttle eras. It was upgraded for the SLS rocket’s extra heft.

    The first and only other SLS launch — which sent an empty Orion capsule into orbit around the moon — took place back in November 2022.

    “This one feels a lot different, putting crew on the rocket and taking the crew around the moon,” NASA’s John Honeycutt said on the eve of the rocket’s rollout.

    Heat shield damage and other capsule problems during the initial test flight required extensive analyses and tests, pushing back this first crew moonshot until now. The astronauts won’t orbit the moon or even land on it. That giant leap will take come on the third flight in the Artemis lineup a few years from now.

    Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover and Christina Koch — longtime NASA astronauts with spaceflight experience — will be joined on the 10-day mission by Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, a former fighter pilot awaiting his first rocket ride.

    They will be the first people to fly to the moon since Apollo 17’s Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt closed out the triumphant lunar-landing program in 1972. Twelve astronauts strolled the lunar surface, beginning with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin in 1969. Only four moonwalkers are still alive; Aldrin, the oldest, turns 96 on Tuesday.

    “They are so fired up that we are headed back to the moon,” Wiseman said. “They just want to see humans as far away from Earth as possible discovering the unknown.”

    NASA is waiting to conduct a fueling test of the SLS rocket on the pad in early February before confirming a launch date.

    “We’ve, I think, zero intention of communicating an actual launch date” until completing the fueling demo, Isaacman told reporters.

    The space agency has only five days to launch in the first half of February before bumping into March.

    ___

    The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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  • NASA’s New Moon Rocket Heads to the Pad Ahead of Astronaut Launch as Early as February

    CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA’s giant new moon rocket headed to the launch pad Saturday in preparation for astronauts’ first lunar fly-around in more than half a century.

    The out-and-back trip could blast off as early as February.

    The 322-foot (98-meter) rocket began its 1 mph (1.6 kph) creep from Kennedy Space Center’s Vehicle Assembly Building at daybreak. The four-mile (six-kilometer) trek was expected to take until nightfall.

    Throngs of space center workers and their families gathered in the predawn chill to witness the long-awaited event, delayed for years. They huddled together ahead of the Space Launch System rocket’s exit from the building, built in the 1960s to accommodate the Saturn V rockets that sent 24 astronauts to the moon during the Apollo program. The cheering crowd was led by NASA’s new administrator Jared Isaacman and all four astronauts assigned to the mission.

    Weighing in at 11 million pounds (5 million kilograms), the Space Launch System rocket and Orion crew capsule on top made the move aboard a massive transporter that was used during the Apollo and shuttle eras. It was upgraded for the SLS rocket’s extra heft.

    The first and only other SLS launch — which sent an empty Orion capsule into orbit around the moon — took place back in November 2022.

    “This one feels a lot different, putting crew on the rocket and taking the crew around the moon,” NASA’s John Honeycutt said on the eve of the rocket’s rollout.

    Heat shield damage and other capsule problems during the initial test flight required extensive analyses and tests, pushing back this first crew moonshot until now. The astronauts won’t orbit the moon or even land on it. That giant leap will take come on the third flight in the Artemis lineup a few years from now.

    Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover and Christina Koch — longtime NASA astronauts with spaceflight experience — will be joined on the 10-day mission by Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, a former fighter pilot awaiting his first rocket ride.

    They will be the first people to fly to the moon since Apollo 17’s Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt closed out the triumphant lunar-landing program in 1972. Twelve astronauts strolled the lunar surface, beginning with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin in 1969.

    NASA is waiting to conduct a fueling test of the SLS rocket on the pad in early February before confirming a launch date. Depending on how the demo goes, “that will ultimately lay out our path toward launch,” launch director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson said on Friday.

    The space agency has only five days to launch in the first half of February before bumping into March.

    The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

    Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Photos You Should See – January 2026

    Associated Press

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  • NASA rolls out SLS rocket for Artemis II moon mission

    KENNEDY SPACE CENTER —  More than 1,000 people came out to see NASA roll out its Artemis II Space Launch System (SLS) rocket as it made its slow march to the launch pad during the chilly early morning hours on Saturday.  

    What You Need To Know

    • The SLS is a super-heavy rocket that is 322 feet tall (98.27 meters)
    • The Artemis II mission will see four humans flying by the moon
    • It will begin its slow 4-mile ground journey from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center

    The SLS is a super-heavy rocket that is 322 feet tall (98.27 meters), making it 17 feet (5.18 meters) taller than the Statue of Liberty, according to NASA.

    To put it into perspective for space lovers:

    At 7 a.m. ET., the SLS rocket and Orion capsule took a ride on a crawler transporter as it began its slow 4-mile ground journey from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.

    And yes, it was a slow trip, moving at 1 mile per hour or less. Between unscheduled stops and other factors, it could take between six and 12 hours before it arrives at the launch pad — its home until the planned February 2026 launch. 

    Once it arrives at its temporary home, it will have its wet dress rehearsal, which is scheduled to take place either at the end of January or the start of February.

    The purpose of the wet dress rehearsal is to test each phase of the launch countdown, from loading more than 700,000 gallons of super-cold fuel into the rocket to safely standing down from a liftoff attempt.  

    And that fuel isn’t something you can find at your local gas station.

    “The liquid oxygen tank and liquid hydrogen tank hold a combined 733,000 gallons of propellant super cooled to minus 423 degrees Fahrenheit to power the four RS-25 engines at the bottom of the rocket,” NASA explained.

    Sitting on top of the SLS rocket is the Orion capsule, which will carry its human crew to their 10-day mission to the moon.

    It will send NASA’s Cmdr. Gregory Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency astronaut mission specialist Jeremy Hansen to the moon, the first time humans visited the rocky satellite since 1972.

    Glover will be the first Black man and Koch will be the first woman to fly to the moon. 

    During a press conference on Saturday morning, the four shared a stage with NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman.

    Isaacman said that the Artemis II mission will fulfill more than one promise.

    “Why are we doing this? We are doing this to fulfill a promise, promise to the American people that we will return to the moon, a promise to all of the pioneers, the engineers, the scientists, the astronauts, the researchers from the 1960s, which the laid the foundation that we are that we are standing upon right now. We’ll do it inevitably to figure out the orbital and lunar economy for all of the science and discovery possibilities that are out there to inspire my kids, your kids, kids all around the world to want to grow up and contribute to this unbelievable endeavor that we’re on right now,” he said.

    Koch also echoed some of what Isaacman said, as well as adding some of the things the mission will focus on.

    “One of the reasons that these missions are so important is the discovery and the knowledge that we bring back to Earth, and that is the entire point. We have both lunar geology science, and we have human research on this mission. Human research is that we’re participating in everything from how we can top perform behavioral health, immune response in space, which is a fascinating physiological response that humans have to microgravity,” she said.

    During the press conference, Hansen said that America’s exploration of space has paved the way for other countries, such as Canada, to develop their own skills.

    “I’ve really applauded the American space leadership because they carved out space for Canada to hone some of our skills, to develop workforce in specific areas, and to bring that knowledge. And the future for Canada kind of looks like where the international collaboration wants to go. We aren’t leading that collaboration. NASA is leading that collaboration, inviting our participation. We have skill sets, and I know Canada will rise to the challenge, just like they did in the Artemis. When we were asked to join Artemis, we started to lean into developing new robotic systems for deep space,” he said.

    While discussing how close they have become, Wiseman also shared that they will have the easiest job on launch day.

    “While we’re up there on launch day, we’ve got the easiest job. We really have the easiest job. We’ve trained for this. We know exactly what to do and it will be good. It’s our families that we think about the most on launch day,” he said.

    This will be a flyby mission, as seen in this NASA graphic for Artemis II.

    NASA is aiming for a Feb. 6 launch, but it can be pushed back to April. The U.S. space agency explained why.

    “While the Artemis II launch window opens as early as Friday, Feb. 6, the mission management team will assess flight readiness after the wet dress rehearsal across the spacecraft, launch infrastructure, and the crew and operations teams before selecting a launch date,” NASA stated.

    As John Honeycutt, NASA’s Artemis II mission management team chair, said during a Friday afternoon press conference, “We will fly when we are ready.”

    The U.S. space agency has named the mission to return to Earth’s lunar neighbor Artemis, as a homage to the Apollo moon landing. In Greek mythology, Artemis is the twin sister of Apollo and the goddess of the moon.

    NASA plans to send humans (including the first woman and person of color) back to the moon in 2027, more than 50 years after the last time humans stepped on the lunar surface.

    The Artemis I launch took place in 2022 to test out the new systems and how they would handle going to the moon and back.

    Learn about the crew

    Anthony Leone

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  • NASA to roll out SLS rocket Saturday for Artemis II moon mission

    KENNEDY SPACE CENTER — During the early morning hours of Saturday, NASA will begin the Artemis II’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket’s slow roll to the launch pad.

    What You Need To Know

    • The SLS is a super-heavy rocket that is 322 feet tall (98.27 meters)
    • The Artemis II mission will see four humans flying by the moon
    • It will begin its slow 4-mile ground journey from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center

    The SLS is a super-heavy rocket that is 322 feet tall (98.27 meters), making it 17 feet (5.18 meters) taller than the Statue of Liberty, according to NASA.

    To put it into perspective for space lovers:

    At 7 a.m. ET., the SLS rocket and Orion capsule will take a ride on a crawler transporter as it begins its slow 4-mile ground journey from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.

    And yes, it will be a slow trip, moving at 1 mile per hour or less. Between unscheduled stops and other factors, it could take between six and 12 hours before it arrives at the launch pad — its home until the planned February 2026 launch. 

    Once it arrives at its temporary home, it will have its wet dress rehearsal, which is scheduled to take place at the end of January.

    The purpose of the wet dress rehearsal is to test each phase of the launch countdown, from loading more than 700,000 gallons of super-cold fuel into the rocket to safely standing down from a liftoff attempt.  

    And that fuel isn’t something you can find at your local gas station.

    “The liquid oxygen tank and liquid hydrogen tank hold a combined 733,000 gallons of propellant super cooled to minus 423 degrees Fahrenheit to power the four RS-25 engines at the bottom of the rocket,” NASA explained.

    Sitting on top of the SLS rocket is the Orion capsule, which will carry its human crew to their 10-day mission to the moon.

    It will send NASA’s Cmdr. Gregory Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency astronaut mission specialist Jeremy Hansen to the moon, the first time humans visited the rocky satellite since 1972.

    This will be a flyby mission, as seen in this NASA graphic for Artemis II.

     

    NASA is aiming for a Feb. 6 launch, but it can be pushed back to April. The U.S. space agency explained why.

    “While the Artemis II launch window opens as early as Friday, Feb. 6, the mission management team will assess flight readiness after the wet dress rehearsal across the spacecraft, launch infrastructure, and the crew and operations teams before selecting a launch date,” NASA stated.

    As John Honeycutt, NASA’s Artemis II mission management team chair, said during a Friday afternoon press conference, “We will fly when we are ready.”

    The U.S. space agency has named the mission to return to Earth’s lunar neighbor Artemis, as a homage to the Apollo moon landing. In Greek mythology, Artemis is the twin sister of Apollo and the goddess of the moon.

    NASA plans to send humans (including the first woman and person of color) back to the moon in 2027, more than 50 years after the last time humans stepped on the lunar surface.

    The Artemis I launch took place in 2022 to test out the new systems and how they would handle going to the moon and back.

    Learn about the crew

    Anthony Leone

    Source link

  • Weather a concern for Starlink launch

    CAPE CANAVERAL SPACE FORCE STATION — As SpaceX is gearing up for another Starlink launch on Sunday evening, the weather is a bit of a concern. 

    What You Need To Know

    • The Falcon 9 rocket will send up the Starlink 6-100 mission from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station

    The Falcon 9 rocket will send up the Starlink 6-100 mission from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, stated SpaceX. 

    The launch window will open from 5:04 p.m. ET to 9:04 p.m. ET. That means SpaceX has during that time frame to launch its Falcon 9.

    The 45th Weather Squadron is giving “40→10%” against the launch, with the forecast concerns being the cumulus cloud, thick cloud and liftoff winds rules.

    Find out more about the weather criteria for a Falcon 9 launch.

    Going up

    This is the 24th mission for the Falcon 9’s first-stage booster B1080. It sent up two commercial crewed missions.

    After the stage separation, the first-stage rocket will land on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas that will be in the Atlantic Ocean..

    About the mission

    The 29 satellites from the Starlink company, owned by SpaceX, will be heading to low-Earth orbit to join the thousands already there.

    Once deployed and in their orbit, they will provide internet service to many parts of Earth.

    Dr. Jonathan McDowell, of Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, documents Starlink satellites.

    Before this launch, McDowell recorded the following:

    • 9,500 are in orbit
    • 8,261 are in operational orbit

    Anthony Leone

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  • NASA says astronaut suffered ‘serious medical condition’ on ISS

    JOHNSTON SPACE CENTER — During an early morning press conference, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman revealed on Thursday that a Crew-11 astronaut suffered a “serious medical condition” while onboard the International Space Station last week.

    But he stressed that the unnamed astronaut is in stable condition and is currently getting medical care after a successful splashdown off the coast of San Diego on Thursday morning.

    What You Need To Know

    • The unnamed astronaut is in stable condition and in good spirits, stated NASA

    “I think without going … into specifics beyond what was already shared, obviously we took this action because it was a serious medical condition,” Isaacman said of the medical evacuation.

    He started the press conference off by recapping the splashdown and how all of the crew members were safe and in good spirits.

    NASA astronauts Cmdr. Zena Cardman, pilot Michael Fincke, and mission specialists Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Kimiya Yui and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov will be flown to a hospital in San Diego from the recovery ship Shannon, said Joel Montalbano, deputy associate administrator of NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate.

    Montalbano added that all four of the Crew-11 members will spend the night at the hospital and once given the all clear, will be flown to Houston to be reunited with their loved ones. They may be at the Johnson Space Center on Friday, he said.

    Last week, one of the four astronauts suffered an undisclosed medical episode, but was in stable condition.

    This was the first medical evacuation in the 25 years since the International Space Station has been in full service. The situation prompted NASA to cut the Crew-11 mission short, as it was supposed to end in February. 

    Officials stressed that this was not an emergency de-orbit.

    “If it’s a medical thing and you need to get home, you’d come home anywhere in the world and we’d use the U.S. military to get to them as quickly as we can. And then from that, we’d figure out what the next steps would be,” Montalbano explained if it had been an emergency situation.

    During a question-and-answer session, Isaacman told Spectrum News that it was premature to speculate on the astronaut’s future in space.

    “I would, I would think it’s incredibly premature to even, you know, consider that right now. The highest priority is, you know, the health and welfare of our crew members. They just executed, I mean, a near-perfect mission on orbit,” he said. “So, I said that during the initial press conference that I think regardless of the phase of flight we were in on the timeline on the expedition, we would arrive at the same conclusion. What Crew-11 did to make this so much easier is, is executing so well on all of their scientific, scientific objectives. So, in that case, the crew did a fantastic job. And I think that would reflect well on future crew selection criteria.”

    The Crew-11 members take a moment to strike a pose. Mission specialist Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, left, NASA pilot Michael Fincke, NASA Cmdr. Zena Cardman, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) mission specialist Kimiya Yui. (NASA pilot Michael Fincke)

    Because all four astronauts had extensive medical training, they were well equipped to care for the crewmember who suffered the medical episode, Isaacman said. He said the level of care the astronaut received would have been the same if a medical doctor was onboard the space station.

    He added that it is unknown what caused the medical episode and did not think it was preparing for a scheduled spacewalk.

    In what was supposed to be a six-hour spacewalk, Fincke and Cardman were going to install a modification kit and cables for a future rollout of a solar array on Thursday, Jan. 08.

    “I mean, this is something that could have happened on Earth, you know, completely outside the microgravity environment, at that point. I don’t think we know that versus just being in microgravity versus potentially interactions, experiments. We, I just think it would be very premature to draw any conclusions or close any doors at this point,” Isaacman said.

    He said that a medical professional may be on future missions like going to Mars.

    NASA will review what happened and whatever lessons are learned will be adopted to future missions, Montalbano said.

    Anthony Leone

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  • Despite forecast, SpaceX launches Starlink satellites

    CAPE CANAVERAL SPACE FORCE STATION, Fla. — Even though the weather did not look promising, SpaceX was able to launch its Starlink mission on Wednesday afternoon. . 

    What You Need To Know

    • The Falcon 9 rocket sent up the Starlink 6-98 mission
    • The rocket’s first-stage booster has an impressive history
    • Get more space coverage here  ▶

    The Falcon 9 rocket sent up Starlink 6-98 mission from Space Launch Complex 40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, stated SpaceX. 

    The launch window opened at 1:01 p.m. ET and it was set to close at 5:01 p.m. ET. That means SpaceX had during that time frame to launch its Falcon 9 rocket.

    The liftoff time was at 1:08 p.m. ET.

    The 45th Weather Squadron gave a 40% chance of good liftoff conditions, with the only concerns being the thick cloud layers and the cumulus cloud rules. 

    Find out more about the weather criteria for a Falcon 9 launch.

    Lucky 13?

    This is the 13th mission for the Falcon 9’s first-stage booster B1085.

    So far, B1085 has an impressive career, launching one crewed mission to the International Space Station, the first-ever civilian polar orbit and sending up two commercial companies’ lunar landers — with Firefly Aerospace being the first company to successfully land on the moon. 

    1. Crew-9 mission
    2. Starlink 6-77 mission
    3. Starlink 10-5 mission
    4. RRT-1
    5. Blue Ghost and HAKUTO-R
    6. Fram2 mission
    7. Starlink 6-93 mission
    8. SXM-10 mission
    9. Eumetsat MTG-S1 mission
    10. Starlink 10-20 mission
    11. Starlink 10-27 mission
    12. Starlink 6-94 mission

    After the stage separation, the first-stage rocket landed on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas, which was in the Atlantic Ocean

    About the mission

    The 29 satellites from the Starlink company, owned by SpaceX, will be heading to low-Earth orbit to join the thousands already there.

    Once deployed and in their orbit, they will provide internet service to many parts of Earth.

    Dr. Jonathan McDowell, of Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, has been recording Starlink satellites.

    Before this launch, McDowell recorded the following:

    • 9,476 are in orbit
    • 8,242 are in operational orbit

     

    Anthony Leone

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  • Crew-11 to undock from ISS with astronaut who suffered medical issue

    CAPE CANAVERAL SPACE FORCE STATION — NASA’s Crew-11 will be undocking from the International Space Station in the facility’s first medical evacuation after an astronaut suffered a medical episode.

    What You Need To Know

    • Crew-11 should be splashing down off the coast of California

    The members of Crew-11 — NASA astronauts Cmdr. Zena Cardman and pilot Michael Fincke, along with mission specialists Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Kimiya Yui and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov — will get into SpaceX’s Dragon capsule named Endeavour and undock from the space station’s Harmony module at 5 p.m. ET, Wednesday.

    Endeavour will be fully autonomous from the moment it undocks to the splashdown, which is expected to happen at 3:40 a.m. ET, Thursday, in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of California.

    SpaceX Dragon specs:

    • Height: 26.7 feet tall

    • Diameter: 13 feet fall

    • Number of engines: 8

    • Passengers: It can carry up to 7 people

    • Parachutes: 2 drogue + 4 main = 6 parachutes

    Though, the crew can take control of the capsule if something should come up.

    When the quartet enters Earth’s atmosphere, there will be a series of parachute deployments that will slow the Dragon down from an orbital speed of about 17,500 mph (2,816 kph) to 350 mph (563 kph) to about 16 mph (25 kph) when it should softly land in the ocean.

    While the crew will remain safe inside, the outside of Dragon will face temperatures of 3,500 degrees Fahrenheit (1,927 degrees Celsius) once it hits Earth’s atmosphere. The spacecraft’s special shielding and the air conditioning system will keep the crew safe and cool.

    It is not known exactly where Endeavour’s splashdown will be, but it will be off California’s coast.

    Depending on where the Dragon will be flying over, some people may hear a sonic boom.

    Learn all about sonic booms here.

    Why Crew-11’s mission was cut short

    Not much is known about the situation, except that last week, one of the Crew-11 members suffered a medical episode, but has since been stable, said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman during a press conference.

    During the press conference, NASA officials said that while this is the first time the International Space Station has had a medical evacuation, they would not call this an emergency de-orbit, which would have taken hours to return to Earth.

    The medical issue was serious enough to cancel a planned spacewalk that was set for the morning of Thursday, Jan. 8.

    During a six-and-a-half-hour spacewalk, Fincke and Cardman were supposed to install a modification kit and cables for a future rollout of a solar array.

    The Crew-11 team was supposed to stay on board the International Space Station until February, when they would be relieved of duty by Crew-12.

    Crew-12’s launch might be moved up weeks earlier, but no official date has been given. Originally, that mission’s launch was set for February.

    All four members of Crew-11 spent about five months on the space station. They were launched on a Falcon 9 rocket in August 2025.

    Anthony Leone

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  • Texas A&M researchers test how crops could grow on Mars

    TEXAS — Farming on Mars may sound like science fiction, but Texas A&M University researchers are studying how plants could one day grow on Martian soil with experiments sent to the International Space Station.

    The research focuses on understanding how to transform Martian regolit — the loose, rocky material that covers the planet’s surface — into a medium capable of supporting plant life.

    “What we’d like to do is be able to grow plants better in Mars soil,” said Julie Howe, a Texas A&M soil scientist and principal investigator on the project. “And all we need to do is improve it like soils have improved on Earth for many years.”

    According to Harrison Coker, a Texas A&M doctoral researcher involved in the study, plants cannot grow in Martian soil as it currently exists.

    “Unfortunately not,” Coker said. “The soils that we’ve seen on Mars are very salty. They have a lot of toxic perchlorate salts in them.”

    Coker said perchlorates are highly toxic to biological systems and would need to be remediated before crops could grow. Martian soil lacks organic matter, making it more like “a pile of rocks” than the fertile soils found on Earth.

    To help plants grow, researchers experimented with adding organic material and microbes to simulated Martian soil.

    “To assist the plant growth, we have added in a byproduct of the beer brewing process called brewer’s spent grain,” Coker said. “And it is loaded with carbon and nitrogen and other nutrients.”

    The team also added specific microbes known to work alongside plants to improve nutrient uptake and help plants respond to stress.

    Caleb Shackelford, who worked on the microbiology side of the project, said the goal was to carefully control what was added to the soil.

    “We’re adding in specific microbes, four to be exact, and we want to see if they can kind of help break down some of the organic matter that we added and process these nutrients to help the plants grow a little bit better,” Shackelford said.

    Part of the experiment was sent to the International Space Station to observe how plants and microbes behave in microgravity and increased radiation.

    “The effects of microgravity and the increased radiation will really alter the biology of any system, whether that be a microbe, a plant, or a human,” Coker said. “We can’t readily mimic those conditions on Earth.”

    Microgravity changes how plants move water and nutrients, which directly affects growth. Howe said gravity on Earth plays a major role in moving water, and therefore nutrients, through a plant.

    “If the water is not flowing like it’s supposed to on Earth with the gravity and the suction and the pulling and the transpiration, then the nutrients don’t move in the plant as well,” Howe said.

    Shackelford compared the effects on plants to what astronauts experience in space.

    “Just like astronauts, plants don’t have to work as hard in zero gravity,” he said. “They grow a little more droopy than they would on Earth.”

    Researchers said the findings could have applications much closer than Mars.

    “All the problems that we have on Mars, we also have on Earth in different places,” Howe said. “So we could maybe remediate those lands to be more productive for agriculture as well.”

    The research could help scientists better understand how plants use water and nutrients and support breeding efforts for more resilient crops.

    Coker said the experiment was successful and that the research is ongoing. He believes growing food on Mars could become a reality sooner than many expect.

    “Yes, we will grow food on Mars,” Coker said. “I think we will see it within 20 years.”

    Researchers say future experiments could return to space as they continue refining ways to support plant growth in extreme environments both on Earth and beyond.

    Agustin Garfias

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  • SpaceX launches nearly 30 Starlink satellites

    CAPE CANAVERAL SPACE FORCE STATION, Fla. — SpaceX launched nearly 30 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit on Monday afternoon. 

    What You Need To Know

    • Close to 30 Starlink satellites will go to low-Earth orbit
    • This will be the 25th launch for this Falcon 9

    The Falcon 9 rocket sent up the Starlink 6-97 mission from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, stated SpaceX. 

    The launch window opened at 12:42 p.m. ET, and was set to close at 4:42 p.m. ET.

    The liftoff time is 4:08 p.m. ET. At one point, it was going to be 1:59 p.m. ET.

    SpaceX did not give a reason why the mission was not launched as soon as the window opened.

    The 45th Weather Squadron gave an 85% chance of good liftoff conditions, with the only concerns being the cumulus cloud rule.

    Find out more about the weather criteria for a Falcon 9 launch.

    A Silver Anniversary launch

    This will be the 25th mission for the Falcon 9’s first-stage booster B1078. It has had several important missions under its belt, such as a crewed mission.

    1. Crew-6
    2. SES O3b mPOWER
    3. USSF-124 mission
    4. Bluebird
    5. Starlink 6-4
    6. Starlink 6-8
    7. Starlink 6-16
    8. Starlink 6-31
    9. Starlink 6-46
    10. Starlink 6-53
    11. Starlink 6-60
    12. Starlink 10-2
    13. Starlink 10-6
    14. Starlink 10-13
    15. Starlink 6-76
    16. Starlink 12-6
    17. Starlink 12-9
    18. Starlink 12-16
    19. Starlink 6-72
    20. Starlink 6-84
    21. Starlink 12-26
    22. Starlink 10-26
    23. Nusantara Lima
    24. Starlink 6-85

    After the stage separation, the first-stage rocket landed on the droneship Just Read the Instructions, which is out in the Atlantic Ocean.

    About the mission

    The Starlink company will see 29 of its satellites go into low-Earth orbit.

    Once deployed and joining the thousands that are there, they will give internet service to many parts of the world.

    SpaceX owns the Starlink company.

    Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics’ Dr. Jonathan McDowell has been documenting Starlink satellites.

    Before this launch, McDowell recorded the following:

    • 9,451 are in orbit
    • 8,244 are in operational orbit

    Anthony Leone

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  • Crew-11 prepares for early return to Earth as astronaut deals with medical issue

    CAPE CANAVERAL SPACE FORCE STATION — NASA will be sending home Crew-11 this week after one of its members suffered a medical episode.

    What You Need To Know

    • The undocking of Crew-11’s capsule from the International Space Station is set for early Wednesday evening
    • The splashdown is expected to happen during the early morning hours on Thursday

    During a press conference last week, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman would not name the astronaut or what type of medical issue he or she had but only stated that the person is in stable condition and the Crew-11 mission would be cut short so the person can receive medical care.

    In August 2025, Crew-11 — made up of NASA astronauts Cmdr. Zena Cardman and pilot Michael Fincke, along with mission specialists Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Kimiya Yui and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov — took off from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A.

    They were supposed to stay onboard the International Space Station until next month, where they would be relieved of duty from Crew-12. Crew-12’s launch — originally set for February — might be moved up weeks earlier, but no official date has been given.

    According to information released by NASA over the weekend, the quartet will climb on board SpaceX’s Dragon capsule named Endeavour and undock from the space station’s Harmony module at 5 p.m. ET, Wednesday.

    The splashdown is expected to happen at 3:40 a.m. ET, in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of California.

    Officials stated that in its 25-year history, this is the first time there has been a medical evacuation from the International Space Station.

    However, they stated this was an emergency de-orbit.

    While it is unknown what the medical episode was, it was enough to cancel a planned spacewalk that was set for the morning of Thursday, Jan. 08.

    Fincke and Cardman were going to do a six-and-a-half-hour spacewalk to install a modification kit and cables for a future rollout of a solar array.

    Anthony Leone

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  • ‘Chariots of the Gods’ author Erich von Däniken dies at 90

    BERLIN — Erich von Däniken, the Swiss author whose bestselling books about the extraterrestrial origins of ancient civilizations brought him fame among paranormal enthusiasts and scorn from the scientific community, has died. He was 90.

    Von Däniken’s representatives announced on his website on Sunday that he had died the previous day in a hospital in central Switzerland. His daughter Cornelia confirmed the information to Swiss news agency SDA.

    Von Däniken rose to prominence in 1968 with the publication of his first book “Chariots of the Gods,” in which he claimed that the Mayans and ancient Egyptians were visited by alien astronauts and instructed in advanced technology that allowed them to build giant pyramids.

    The book fueled a growing interest in unexplained phenomena at a time when thanks to conventional science man was about to take its first steps on the Moon.

    “Chariots of the Gods” was followed by more than two dozen similar books that sold 60 million copies in 32 languages, spawning a literary niche in which fact and fantasy were mixed together against all historical and scientific evidence.

    While von Däniken managed to shrug off his many critics, the former hotel waiter had a troubled relationship with money throughout his life and frequently came close to financial ruin.

    Born in 1935, the son of a clothing manufacturer in the northern Swiss town of Schaffhausen, von Däniken is said to have rebelled against his father’s strict Catholicism and the priests who instructed him at boarding school by developing his own alternatives to the biblical account of the origins of life.

    After leaving school in 1954, von Däniken worked as a waiter and barkeeper for several years, during which he was repeatedly accused of fraud and served a couple of short stints in prison.

    In 1964, he was appointed manager of a hotel in the exclusive resort town of Davos and began writing his first book. Its publication and rapid commercial success were quickly followed by accusations of tax dodging and financial impropriety, for which he again spent time behind bars.

    By the time he left prison, “Chariots of the Gods” was earning von Däniken a fortune and a second book “Gods from Outer Space” was ready for publication, allowing him to commit himself to his paranormal passion and travel the world in search of new mysteries to uncover.

    Throughout the 1970s von Däniken undertook countless field trips to Egypt, India, and above all Latin America, whose ancient cultures held a particular fascination for the amateur archaeologist.

    He lectured widely and set up societies devoted to promoting his theories, later pioneering the use of video and multimedia to reach out to ever-larger audiences hungry for a different account of history.

    No amount of criticism dissuaded him and his fans from believing that Earth has been visited repeatedly by beings from Outer Space, and will be again in the future.

    In 1991 von Däniken gained the damning accolade of being the first recipient of the “Ig Nobel” prize for literature — for raising the public awareness of science through questionable experiments or claims.

    Even when confronted with fabricated evidence in a British television documentary — supposedly ancient pots were shown to be almost new — von Däniken insisted that, minor discrepancies aside, his theories were essentially sound.

    In 1985 von Däniken wrote “Neue Erinnerungen an die Zukunft” — “New Memories of the Future” — ostensibly to address his many critics: “I have admitted (my mistakes), but not one of the foundations of my theories has yet been brought down.”

    Although his popularity was waning in the English-speaking world by the 1980s, von Däniken’s books and films influenced a wave of semi-serious archaeological documentaries and numerous popular television shows, including “The X-Files,” which featured two FBI agents tasked with solving paranormal mysteries.

    His last major venture, a theme park based on his books, failed after just a few years due to lack of interest. The “Mystery Park” still stands, its man-made pyramids and otherworldly domes rotting as tourists prefer to explore the charms of the nearby town of Interlaken and the imposing Swiss Alps that surround it.

    Erich von Däniken is survived by his wife of 65 years, Elisabeth Skaja, Cornelia and two grandchildren.

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  • Doctors say changes to US vaccine recommendations are confusing parents and could harm kids

    Dr. Molly O’Shea has noticed growing skepticism about vaccines at both of her Michigan pediatric offices and says this week’s unprecedented and confusing changes to federal vaccine guidance will only make things worse.

    One of her offices is in a Democratic area, where more of the parents she sees are opting for alternative schedules that spread out shots. The other is in a Republican area, where some parents have stopped immunizing their children altogether.

    She and other doctors fear the new recommendations and the terminology around them will stoke vaccine hesitancy even more, pose challenges for pediatricians and parents that make it harder for kids to get shots, and ultimately lead to more illness and death.

    The biggest change was to stop blanket recommendations for protection against six diseases and recommend those vaccines only for at-risk children or through something called “shared clinical decision-making” with a health care provider.

    The phrase, experts say, is confusing and dangerous: “It sends a message to a parent that actually there’s only a rarefied group of people who really need the vaccine,” O’Shea said. “It’s creating an environment that puts a sense of uncertainty about the value and necessity or importance of the vaccines in that category.”

    Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who helped lead the anti-vaccine movement for years, said in announcing the changes that they better align the U.S. with peer nations “while strengthening transparency and informed consent.”

    But doctors say they are sowing doubt — the vaccines have been extensively studied and proven to be safe and effective at shielding kids from nasty diseases — at a time when childhood vaccination rates are already falling and some of those infectious diseases are spreading.

    On Friday, the American Academy of Pediatrics and more than 200 medical, public health and patient advocacy groups sent a letter to Congress about the new childhood immunization schedule.

    “We urge you to investigate why the schedule was changed, why credible scientific evidence was ignored, and why the committee charged with advising the HHS Secretary on immunizations did not discuss the schedule changes as a part of their public meeting process,” they wrote.

    O’Shea said she and other pediatricians discuss vaccines with parents at every visit where they are given. But that’s not necessarily “shared clinical decision-making,” which has a particular definition.

    On its website, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices says: “Unlike routine, catch-up, and risk-based recommendations, shared clinical decision-making vaccinations are not recommended for everyone in a particular age group or everyone in an identifiable risk group. Rather, shared clinical decision-making recommendations are individually based and informed by a decision process between the health care provider and the patient or parent/guardian.”

    In this context, health care providers include primary care physicians, specialists, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, registered nurses and pharmacists.

    A pair of surveys conducted last year by the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania suggested that many people don’t fully understand the concept, which came up last year when the federal government changed recommendations around COVID-19 vaccinations.

    Only about 2 in 10 U.S. adults knew that one meaning behind shared decision-making is that “taking the vaccine may not be a good idea for everyone but would benefit some.” And only about one-third realized pharmacists count as health care providers to talk with during the process, even though they frequently administer vaccines.

    As of this week, vaccines that protect against hepatitis A, hepatitis B, rotavirus, RSV, flu and meningococcal disease are no longer universally recommended for kids. RSV, hepatitis A, hepatitis B and meningococcal vaccines are recommended for certain high-risk populations; flu, rotavirus, hepatitis A, hepatitis B and meningococcal vaccines are recommended through shared decision-making — as is the COVID-19 vaccine, although that change was made last year.

    Shortly after the federal announcement Monday, Dr. Steven Abelowitz heard from half a dozen parents. “It’s causing concern for us, but more importantly, concern for parents with kids, especially young kids, and confusion,” said Abelowitz, founder of Ocean Pediatrics in Orange County, California.

    Though federal recommendations are not mandates — states have the authority to require vaccinations for schoolchildren — they can affect how easy it is for kids to get shots if doctors choose to follow them.

    Under the new guidelines, O’Shea said, parents seeking shots in the shared decision-making category might no longer bring their kids in for a quick, vaccine-only appointment with staff. They’d sit down with a health care provider and discuss the vaccine. And it could be tougher to have a flu clinic, where parents drive up and kids get shots without seeing a doctor.

    Still, doctors say they won’t let the changes stop them from helping children get the vaccines they need. Leading medical groups are sticking with prior vaccine recommendations. Many parents are, too.

    Megan Landry, whose 4-year-old son Zackary is one of O’Shea’s patients, is among them.

    “It’s my responsibility as a parent to protect my child’s health and well-being,” she said. “Vaccines are a really effective and well-studied way to do that.”

    She plans to keep having the same conversations she’s always had with O’Shea before getting vaccines for Zackary.

    “Relying on evidence and trusted medical guidance really helps me to make those decisions,” she said. “And for me, it’s not just a personal choice for my own son but a way to contribute to the health of everybody.”

    But for other families, confidence about vaccines is waning as trust in science erodes. O’Shea lamented that parents are getting the message that they can’t trust medical experts.

    “If I take my car to the mechanic, I don’t go do my own research ahead of time,” she said. “I go to a person I trust and I trust them to tell me what’s going on.”

    Abelowitz, the California doctor, likened the latest federal move to pouring gasoline on a fire of mistrust that was already burning.

    “We’re worried the fire’s out of control,” he said. “Already we’ve seen that with measles and pertussis, there are increased hospitalizations and even increasing deaths. So the way that I look at it — and my colleagues look at it — we’re basically regressing decades.”

    ___

    The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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  • UCF doctor shares medical insight on International Space Station

    CAPE CANAVERAL SPACE FORCE STATION — After a Crew-11 astronaut suffered a medical episode on the International Space Station, a University of Central Florida space medicine expert gives insight into the medical capabilities of the crew and what is on the station.

    What You Need To Know

    • Dr. Emmanuel Urquieta describes what type of training an assigned crew medical officer goes through
    • He also shares what type of medical tools and equipment are onboard the International Space Station
    • He was the chief medical officer of the NASA-funded Translational Research Institute for Space Health
    • RELATED coverage: Crew-11 mission cut short after astronaut has medical issue

    Dr. Emmanuel Urquieta, vice chairman of UCF’s Aerospace Medicine and associate professor of medicine, would not speculate as to what happened to the unnamed astronaut, but he shared what type of training the space station crew does and what equipment is onboard to help assist in the care of crew members.

    NASA has health standards for its astronauts as they need to meet a health requirement, plus training, before going to space. But each expedition — which means the current crew in the International Space Station — assigns a person to be a crew medical officer (CMO), explained Urquieta on Friday afternoon.

    “The CMO is not always a physician, but receives extensive preflight medical training in trauma care, medical emergencies, dental care, ultrasound imaging, and clinical decision-making in isolated settings. All crew members receive basic emergency medical training to support the CMO,” he stated to Spectrum News.

    Astronaut medical training is mission-specific and risk-based, with the CMO receiving advanced simulation-based training that focuses on stabilizing a patient, autonomous care and coordinating with medical teams back on Earth, stated Urquieta, who was the chief medical officer of the NASA-funded Translational Research Institute for Space Health before joining UCF.

    In fact, he stated that NASA helped pioneer telemedicine, where a patient and a doctor can speak during a video call. The medical care that takes place on the space station relies heavily on telemedicine.

    Urquieta says some of the benefits of telemedicine include, “Crew members can transmit medical data, images (including ultrasound), and live communications to flight surgeons at Mission Control. Medical support is available 24/7, with dedicated flight surgeons assigned to each mission.”

    To assist the CMO, the International Space Station is equipped with various tools to provide medical care.

    “The ISS carries a Crew Health Care System (CHeCS) that includes diagnostic tools (ultrasound, physiologic monitoring), emergency and trauma equipment, airway and resuscitation supplies, and a formulary of medications covering pain, infection, cardiovascular, and other common conditions. These systems are designed to manage most expected medical events in orbit,” he described in an email.

    If a health issue comes up that is severe and beyond the scope of the CMO, NASA can activate medical contingency protocols, Urquieta said, who also spoke to Spectrum News in a separate article about the importance of space health and medicine in 2024.

    “These include real-time consultation with flight surgeons and medical specialists on the ground and, when indicated, early return to Earth using the docked spacecraft. From the ISS, evacuation can occur within hours,” he described.

    In fact, that is what is happening with the unnamed astronaut who had an undisclosed medical issue. On Thursday, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman announced that the Crew-11 mission had been cut short so the astronaut could come back down to Earth to receive full medical care.

    NASA is currently working to determine when the Crew-11 member can undock from the space station and return to Earth.

    Crew-11 is made up of NASA astronauts Cmdr. Zena Cardman and pilot Michael Fincke, along with mission specialists Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Kimiya Yui and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov.

    All four members will be returning after spending about five months on the space station. They were launched on a Falcon 9 rocket in August 2025.

    Urquieta also shared that NASA uses a probabilistic risk-assessment tool called the Integrated Medical Model (IMM). The tool uses simulations to assess millions of hypothetical missions and calculate the incidence, severity, and timing of medical events.

    “For long-duration missions in low-Earth orbit, early IMM analyses predicted a high probability (>50%) of at least one medical event requiring evacuation over the lifetime of the ISS program, with expected occurrence on the order of 30,000–60,000 cumulative crew-days. In practice, after over 25 years of continuous ISS operations and well beyond 100,000 cumulative crew-days, no evacuation has occurred for an acute life-threatening medical emergency,” he stated.

    He continued, “This outcome has been substantially better than IMM predictions, underscoring the impact of rigorous astronaut selection, aggressive prevention strategies, continuous physiological monitoring, and real-time telemedical support by ground-based flight surgeons.”

    Anthony Leone

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  • NASA cuts space station mission short

    NEW YORK — In a rare move, NASA is cutting a mission aboard the International Space Station short after an astronaut had a medical issue.

    The space agency said Thursday the U.S.-Japanese-Russian crew of four will return to Earth in the coming days, earlier than planned.

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  • SpaceX pushes back Starlink launch to Friday

    CANAVERAL SPACE FORCE STATION, Fla. — SpaceX has pushed the second of the year from the Sunshine State to Friday.

    What You Need To Know

    • SpaceX will attempt to launch Starlink 6-96 on Friday afternoon
    • Starlink 6-96 mission will take off from Space Launch Complex 40

    The Falcon 9 rocket will send up Starlink 6-96 mission from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, stated SpaceX.

    Originally, the launch was going to happen on Thursday, with the four-hour launch window opening at 1:29 p.m. ET, but the liftoff time was pushed back a number of times until it was scrubbed. 

    SpaceX did not give a reason why it cancelled Thursday’s launch, but the new attempt is set for Friday, with the four-hour launch window starting at 1:03 p.m. ET.

    The 45th Weather Squadron’s forecast for Friday’s mission is the same it gave for Thursday’s launch attempt: About a 95% chance of good liftoff conditions, with the only concerns being the cumulus cloud rule.

    Find out more about the weather criteria for a Falcon 9 launch.

    Going up

    This is the 29th mission for the Falcon 9’s first-stage booster B1069. It has had several missions before this launch, with most of them being Starlink ones:

    After the stage separation, the first-stage rocket will land on the droneship Just Read the Instructions which will be in the Atlantic Ocean.

    About the mission

    The 29 satellites from the Starlink company, owned by SpaceX, will be heading to low-Earth orbit to join the thousands already there.

    Once deployed and in their orbit, they will provide internet service to many parts of Earth.

    Dr. Jonathan McDowell, of Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, has been recording Starlink satellites.

    Before this launch, McDowell recorded the following:

    • 9,422 are in orbit
    • 8,170 are in operational orbit

     

    Anthony Leone

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  • Crew-11 mission cut short after astronaut has medical issue

    CAPE CANAVERAL SPACE FORCE STATION — NASA’s new administrator, Jared Isaacman, said during a press conference on Thursday evening that Crew-11’s mission on the International Space Station will be cut short after one of its astronauts suffered an unknown medical issue.

    What You Need To Know

    • NASA has not released the name of the astronaut
    • The U.S. space agency has not stated what the medical issue is
    • Crew-11 mission will be cut short; Crew-12 launch could be sooner than expected

    Isaacman, Associate Administrator Amit Kshatriya, and NASA’s Chief Health and Medical Officer Dr. James Polk stressed that this is not an emergency de-orbit and while they would not name the astronaut and say what the medical issue was that happened on Wednesday, they did say he or she is in stable condition.

    “Our crews are extensively trained, as the administrator mentioned, to manage unexpected medical situations and other off nominal events, including onboard training, which we conduct regularly for these situations. Yesterday was a textbook example of that training in action,” said Kshatriya.

    Polk said that while the International Space Station has medical hardware and the astronauts are trained, he said getting the astronaut back to Earth is the best option to fully assess the medical condition.

    The astronaut is stable and in the 25 years of operations, there have been no medical emergencies on the International Space Station, said the three men.

    Polk added that in this new event, officials are erring on the side of caution and are not considering a medical emergency since the astronaut is not immediately coming back down to Earth.

    Polk said what happened was not the result of getting ready for a planned spacewalk on Thursday.

    Crew-11 is made up of NASA astronauts Cmdr. Zena Cardman and pilot Michael Fincke, along with mission specialists Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Kimiya Yui and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov.

    Fincke and Cardman were set to conduct a six-and-a-half-hour spacewalk on Thursday at 8 a.m. ET, to install a modification kit and cables for a future rollout of a solar array.

    NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said the Crew-11 mission will be cut short after one of its members suffered a medical issue. (NASA)

    Isaacman said that NASA teams are working to get Crew-11 home earlier so the astronaut can be evaluated and treated.

    NASA is also considering moving up the Crew-12 launch earlier, which was supposed to go up sometime in February, Isaacman said, who added that an earlier Crew-12 timeline will not impact the launch of the Artemis II moon mission set for early next month.

    Spectrum News asked Isaacman if NASA would consider having a medical doctor on board the International Space Station and future space missions.

    “All of our astronauts go through extensive medical training. There is, as I described before, a lot of capabilities on the International Space Station that our astronauts interact with routinely, whether it’s part of their science and research obligations or just training simulations for these type of contingencies. I don’t think if we if one of our astronauts on board was a medical doctor, it would have changed anything, as it relates to our decision process on this,” he answered.

    “I think that speaks to their level of training. Also, our our teams on the ground, we have flight surgeons and not to mention numerous other surgeons and doctors that are available to weigh in on these type of situations.”

    The four Crew-11 members left from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in August 2025.

    They were expected to be onboard the International Space Station for between six to eight months.

    Once they left, Chris Williams will be the only American astronaut left onboard the space station, along with two Roscosmos cosmonauts, Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergey Mikaev.

    Anthony Leone

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  • Philippines evacuates 3,000 people after activity increases at Mayon Volcano

    MANILA, Philippines — A series of mild eruptions at the most active volcano in the Philippines has prompted the evacuation of nearly 3,000 villagers from a danger zone on its foothills, officials said Wednesday.

    Authorities raised the 5-step alert around Mayon Volcano in the northeastern province of Albay to level 3 on Tuesday after detecting intermittent rockfalls, some as big as cars, from its peak crater in recent days along with deadly pyroclastic flows — a fast-moving avalanche of super-hot rock fragments, ash and gas.

    Alert level 5 would indicate that a major explosive eruption, often with violent ejections of ash and debris and widespread ashfall, is underway.

    “This is already an eruption, a quiet one, with lava accumulating up the peak and swelling the dome, which cracked in some parts and resulted in rockfalls, some as big as cars,” Teresito Bacolcol, the country’s chief volcanologist, told The Associated Press.

    He said it is too early to tell if Mayon’s restiveness would worsen and lead to a major and violent eruption given the absence of other key signs of unrest, like a spike in volcanic earthquakes and high levels of sulfur dioxide emissions.

    Troops, police and disaster-mitigation personnel helped evacuate more than 2,800 villagers from 729 households inside a 6-kilometer (3.7-mile) radius from the volcano’s crater that officials have long designated a permanent danger zone, demarcated by concrete warning signs, Albay provincial officials said.

    Another 600 villagers living outside the permanent danger zone have evacuated voluntarily to government-run emergency shelters to be safely away from the volcano, Claudio Yucot, regional director of the Office of Civil Defense, said.

    Entry to the permanent danger zone in the volcano’s foothills is prohibited, but thousands of villagers have flouted the restrictions and made it their home or maintained farms on and off for generations. Lucrative businesses, such as sand and gravel quarrying and sightseeing tours, have also thrived openly despite the ban and the mountain’s frequent eruptions — now 54 times since records began in 1616.

    The 2,462-meter (8,007-foot) volcano is one of the Philippines’ top tourism draws because of its near-perfect cone shape. But it’s also the most active of the country’s 24 restive volcanoes.

    A terrifying symbol of Mayon’s deadly fury is the belfry of a 16th-century Franciscan stone church which protrudes from the ground in Albay. It’s all that’s left of a baroque church that was buried by volcanic mudflow along with the town of Cagsawa in an 1814 eruption which killed about 1,200 people, including many who sought refuge in the church, about 13 kilometers (8 miles) from the volcano.

    The thousands of people who live within Mayon’s danger zone reflect the plight of many impoverished Filipinos who are forced to live in dangerous places across the archipelago — near active volcanoes like Mayon, on landslide-prone mountainsides, along vulnerable coastlines, atop earthquake fault lines, and in low-lying villages often engulfed by flash floods.

    Each year, about 20 typhoons and storms batter the Philippines, which lies along the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” an arc of fault lines along the Pacific Ocean basin often hit by volcanic eruptions and earthquakes.

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  • Weather looking good for afternoon Starlink launch

    CANAVERAL SPACE FORCE STATION, Fla. — The weather is looking pretty good on Thursday for the second launch of the year from the Sunshine State. 

    What You Need To Know

    • Starlink 6-96 mission will take off from Space Launch Complex 40

    The Falcon 9 rocket will send up Starlink 6-96 mission from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, stated SpaceX.

    The launch window will open from 1:29 p.m. ET to 5:29 p.m. ET.

    The 45th Weather Squadron is giving about a 95% chance of good liftoff conditions, with the only concerns being the cumulus cloud rule.

    Find out more about the weather criteria for a Falcon 9 launch.

    Going up

    This is the 29th mission for the Falcon 9’s first-stage booster B1069. It has had several missions before this launch, with most of them being Starlink ones:

    After the stage separation, the first-stage rocket will land on the droneship Just Read the Instructions which will be in the Atlantic Ocean.

    About the mission

    The 29 satellites from the Starlink company, owned by SpaceX, will be heading to low-Earth orbit to join the thousands already there.

    Once deployed and in their orbit, they will provide internet service to many parts of Earth.

    Dr. Jonathan McDowell, of Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, has been recording Starlink satellites.

    Before this launch, McDowell recorded the following:

    • 9,422 are in orbit
    • 8,170 are in operational orbit

     

    Anthony Leone

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