Particle.news

Mike Fincke Identifies Himself as Astronaut Behind ISS’s First Medical Evacuation

NASA says the crew’s early return was a precaution to access diagnostics unavailable on the station.

Overview

  • Mike Fincke, 58, disclosed he was the Crew 11 member whose health issue led to the mid-January early return to Earth.
  • The problem began on January 7, when crewmates provided immediate care guided by NASA flight surgeons, stabilizing his condition.
  • NASA brought home the entire four-person team—Fincke, Zena Cardman, Kimiya Yui and Oleg Platonov—in the first medical evacuation in ISS history.
  • Officials emphasized it was not an emergency response but a decision to obtain advanced imaging and tests that the ISS lacks.
  • Fincke reports he is now very well and undergoing routine postflight rehabilitation in Houston after the crew’s January 15 splashdown off San Diego.