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CAP CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) – NASA is delaying a spacewalk to the International Space Station this week due to an undisclosed medical issue involving one of its astronauts.
Authorities announced the postponement on Monday, less than 24 hours before Mark Vande Hei was supposed to be floating outside.
Vande Hei is struggling with “a minor medical problem,” officials said in a statement. It’s not an emergency, they noted, but did not provide further details.
Vande Hei, 54, a retired army colonel, has been at the space station since April and is expected to stay there until next spring for a full year-long mission. This is his second stay at the station.
He and Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide were scheduled to venture out on Tuesday to install support for new solar wings. NASA said work can wait.
The spacewalk will be rescheduled after this weekend’s planned supply by SpaceX and a series of spacewalks in September on the Russian side of the orbiting lab, according to NASA.
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The Associated Press’s Department of Health and Science receives support from the Department of Science Education at Howard Hughes Medical Institute. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
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