Nasa Astronaut Mike Fincke Identified As Suffering A Medical Event On Iss, Triggering An Evacuation

NASA astronaut Mike Fincke suffered a aesculapian arena connected ISS, triggering an unprecedented evacuation

The disclosure comes astir a period aft NASA made nan determination to evacuate nan 4 members of Crew-11 from nan International Space Station

By Jackie Flynn Mogensen edited by Claire Cameron

Mike Fincke, aft he and nan remainder of Crew-11 landed successful nan Pacific Ocean disconnected nan seashore of San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026.

NASA/Bill Ingalls

NASA has shed immoderate ray connected what triggered nan unprecedented medical evacuation of 4 astronauts from nan International Space Station past month.

The space agency connected Wednesday identified long-time astronaut Mike Fincke, 58, arsenic having suffered nan aesculapian arena that led to Fincke and nan different 3 members of Crew-11 to beryllium brought location weeks up of schedule.

“On Jan. 7, while aboard nan International Space Station, I knowledgeable a aesculapian arena that required contiguous attraction from my unthinkable crewmates," Fincke said successful a statement. "Thanks to their speedy consequence and nan guidance of our NASA formation surgeons, my position quickly stabilized."

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NASA nor Fincke person disclosed nan nonstop quality of nan aesculapian issue, but nan agency ordered nan removal to let for "advanced aesculapian imaging not disposable connected nan abstraction station," Fincke said successful nan aforesaid statement.

"I’m doing very good and continuing modular post-flight reconditioning astatine NASA’s Johnson Space Center successful Houston," Fincke said. "Spaceflight is an unthinkable privilege, and sometimes it reminds america conscionable really quality we are."

Crew-11—which besides included NASA astronaut Zena Cardman, JAXA astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov—undocked from nan ISS connected January 14 and splashed down to Earth connected January 15. At a January 21 property conference, Fincke said that nan aesculapian incident occurred up of a planned abstraction walk, and that nan abstraction station's on-board ultrasound instrumentality "came successful ace handy."

“We do effort to make judge that everybody, earlier we fly, are really, really not prone to surprises. But sometimes things happen, and surprises happen,” Fincke said nan aforesaid property conference.