After a medical incident on the ISS forced NASA to return the Crew-11 mission early, the affected crew member has been identified as NASA veteran Mike Fincke.
Veteran NASA astronaut Mike Finke, pictured during the 2019 Boeing Crew test flight, revealed on Wednesday that he was the crew member affected in the medical incident that led to Crew-11’s early return from the ISS last month. Credit: NASA/Robert Markowitz
On February 25, NASA revealed that the medical evacuation of Crew-11 from the International Space Station (ISS) last month – the first initial return of a crew after more than 25 years of continuous stay in the orbiting laboratory – was due to a health concern for veteran astronaut Mike Fincke.
“On January 7, while aboard the International Space Station, I experienced a medical event that required the immediate attention of my incredible crewmates. Thanks to their quick response and the guidance of our NASA flight surgeons, my condition quickly stabilized,” Fincke said in a NASA statement released at his request.
The incident first came to light on January 8, when NASA held a special press conference to announce the early return of Crew-11 citing health concerns for a then-unnamed astronaut – including Commander Jenna Cardman, JAXA’s Kimiya Yui and Roscosmos’ Oleg Platonov. “The health and well-being of our astronauts is and will always be our top priority,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said during the press conference.
Working with SpaceX, NASA developed a plan to bring the crew home for diagnostics that the station’s onboard medical suite could not provide. On January 14, the SpaceX Dragon left the ISS with all four members of Endeavor Crew-11. The capsule splashed down safely off the coast of San Diego on January 15. The crew, including Finke, received routine medical checkups at Scripps Memorial Hospital after the splashdown.
While the specific nature of the situation remains private, NASA officials stressed that the return was not an emergency, but rather a cautious decision to use imaging equipment unavailable in orbit. Fincke’s condition was monitored in orbit using the station’s portable ultrasound machine, a device he noted should be included on all future space flights at a press conference held on January 21, before it was learned that he was the affected astronaut.
Finke thanked the public for their concern and said he was in good health, giving no details about the condition that led to the crew’s early return. “I’m doing great and continuing standard post-flight repairs at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Spaceflight is an incredible privilege, and sometimes it reminds us how human we are. Thank you all for your support,” Fincke said.
Finke, 58, is one of NASA’s most experienced explorers. A retired Air Force colonel selected as an astronaut in 1996, this mission marked his fourth flight to the ISS. With this latest stay, Fincke has accumulated 549 days in space, making him fourth on the list of NASA astronauts with the most days in orbit. Known for his technical expertise, he has conducted nine spacewalks and is one of the few Americans certified to fly the Space Shuttle, Russian Soyuz, Boeing Starliner, and SpaceX Crew Dragon.
Despite the early departure, NASA considers the Crew-11 mission a success. During their 167 days in orbit, the crew completed more than 140 scientific experiments and traveled approximately 71 million miles. “Over the past five months aboard the International Space Station, Crew XI accomplished a series of demanding and productive mission objectives,” Isaacman said during a Jan. 15 press conference.
The ISS, which had been short-staffed for a short time following the departure of Crew-11, returned to its full seven-person complement on 14 February with the arrival of Crew-12. The new residents – Jessica Mir, Jack Hathaway, Sophie Adenot and Andrey Fadeyev – are now beginning their planned six-month stay to continue the work started by Finke and his team.
