Mike Fincke Shares More About His Medical Event
NASA astronaut Mike Fincke revealed details of the medical event that forced an early end to the Crew‑11 mission on the International Space Station. The incident occurred on the night of 7 January 2026, just before Fincke and Crew‑11 commander Zena Cardman were scheduled to conduct a spacewalk, and led NASA to initiate a controlled medical evacuation. The crew returned to Earth on 15 January 2026, more than a month ahead of the planned mid‑late‑February landing.
Crew‑11 comprised Fincke (NASA pilot), Cardman (NASA commander), JAXA mission specialist Kimiya Yui, and Roscosmos mission specialist Oleg Platonov. The team splashed down in a Crew Dragon capsule off the California coast and were transferred to the recovery ship before spending the night at Scripps Memorial Hospital near San Diego for privacy reasons. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman described the return as a “controlled medical evacuation” rather than an emergency deorbit. Post‑flight examinations at Johnson Space Center confirmed that Fincke experienced a 20‑minute loss of speech on the ISS, with doctors still unable to determine the cause after extensive testing. At the time of the event, Crew‑11 was five and a half months into its mission, and the Soyuz MS‑28 crew temporarily occupied the station alone while Crew‑12 preparations continued. NASA accelerated Crew‑12’s launch to 13 February 2026, and the spacewalk originally planned for Fincke and Cardman was later performed by Crew‑12 commander Jessica Meir and Soyuz MS‑28 flight engineer Chris Williams.
The early return of Crew‑11 required a shift in the ISS crew rotation schedule, demonstrating NASA’s ability to adjust launch timelines and handover periods without compromising station operations. The incident underscores the effectiveness of ISS medical response protocols, which allow for a rapid, non‑emergency evacuation while preserving crew safety. Ongoing uncertainty about the medical cause highlights the continued importance of astronaut health monitoring as multinational crews rely on both Crew Dragon and Soyuz vehicles for transportation to and from the orbiting laboratory.
