NASA astronaut Mike Fincke identified himself Wednesday as the crew member whose undisclosed condition caused the first medical evacuation in the history of the International Space Station.
In mid-January, Fincke and his fellow crewmates — NASA astronaut Zena Cardman, Kimiya Yui of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, and cosmonaut Oleg Platonov of the Russian space agency, Roscosmos — returned home from the ISS, CNN reported.
Fincke, 58, a Emsworth, Pennsylvania, resident, is a 30-year NASA veteran. In a written statement that NASA released at his request, he did not say what his medical condition was, but noted that his condition quickly stabilized because of the actions of his crewmates and flight surgeons on the ground, The Associated Press reported.
NASA is sharing the following information at the request of NASA astronaut Mike Fincke: pic.twitter.com/J3UsExd94H
— NASA (@NASA) February 25, 2026
“Spaceflight is an incredible privilege, and sometimes it reminds us just how human we are,” Fincke wrote.
The medical incident forced NASA to cancel a spacewalk that had been planned for Jan. 8, NBC News reported.
That same day, NASA said it was considering an early return for the Crew-11 mission.
“After further evaluation, NASA determined the safest course was an early return for Crew-11 — not an emergency, but a carefully coordinated plan to be able to take advantage of advanced medical imaging not available on the space station,“ Fincke wrote. ”On Jan. 15, we splashed down off the coast of San Diego after an amazing five-and-a-half-month mission."
The capsule splashed down in the Pacific Ocean after a journey that took nearly 11 hours.
Three people remained at the space station — NASA’s Christopher Williams and Russian cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikayev.
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