The NASA astronaut whose serious medical issue prompted the early return of SpaceX’s Crew-11 from the International Space Station (ISS) has spoken out about the incident.
In a statement posted on NASA’s website Wednesday, NASA astronaut Mike Fincke came forward and said that he experienced a medical event in orbit aboard the ISS “that required immediate treatment from my incredible crew members,” adding, “Thanks to their rapid response and the guidance of our NASA flight surgeons, my condition quickly stabilized.”
Fincke, 58, continued: “After further investigation, NASA concluded that the safest course of action was an early return of Crew-11 – not an emergency, but a carefully coordinated plan to take advantage of the advanced medical imaging not available on the space station.”
Crew-11 arrived at the ISS in August 2025 and was not scheduled to return until at least a month later. However, on January 7, it emerged that all was not well aboard the orbiting outpost when NASA canceled a spacewalk planned for the following day with Fincke and his colleague Zena Cardman.
In his statement, Fincke declined to provide details about the nature of his medical condition, but at that point the situation was deemed serious enough for newly appointed NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman to bring the four-member crew home early aboard their SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, which crashed off the coast of San Diego on Jan. 15.
“I am deeply grateful to my Expedition 74 colleagues – Zena Cardman, Kimiya Yui, Oleg Platonov, Chris Williams, Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikayev – as well as the entire NASA team, SpaceX and the medical professionals at Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla near San Diego,” Fincke said in his statement. “Their professionalism and commitment ensured a positive result.”
He added that he is “doing very well and continuing standard post-flight care at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston,” and described space travel as “an incredible privilege” and how it sometimes “reminds us of how human we are.”
Manned space missions have been shortened due to technical problems on very rare occasions, but the rescheduling of Crew-11 marks the first time in NASA history that an astronaut mission has been aborted for health reasons.
While the ISS has various medical facilities to deal with health emergencies, in this case it was clear that the safest route was to bring the crew home.
