ISS medevac exposes space‑medicine gap

A medically driven emergency return of Crew‑11 — the first ISS evacuation for health reasons since 1998 — reveals that current on‑orbit medical capabilities, evacuation protocols and rapid clinical‑triage pathways remain limited and rely on ad hoc arrangements. Space agencies must codify rapid medevac procedures, diagnostics, and cross‑agency contingency plans before longer or more distant missions increase medical risk. — Fixing on‑orbit medical readiness affects mission safety, authorization for longer crewed flights, international station governance and the political calculus for continued human presence in low Earth orbit and beyond.