NASA astronaut Mike Fincke reveals his medical incident reason behind Crew-11 return

Richard Tribou, Orlando Sentinel on Feb 25, 2026

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NASA astronaut Mike Fincke announced Wednesday that it was his medical incident aboard the International Space Station in January that prompted the agency to return the SpaceX Crew-11 mission to Earth early.

“On Jan. 7, while aboard the International Space Station, I experienced a medical event that required immediate attention from my incredible crewmates,” Fincke said according to a NASA website update. “Thanks to their quick response and the guidance of our NASA flight surgeons, my status quickly stabilized.”

Both Fincke and fellow NASA astronaut Zena Cardman had been preparing for a spacewalk on the station when those plans were called off.

While Fincke was attended to and stabilized on the station, NASA determined bringing him home with his crewmates Cardman, JAXA astronaut and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov was the most prudent action.

Crew-11 had been slated to remain on board until late February at least awaiting the Crew-12 relief mission.

Instead, Crew-11 departed on what became NASA’s first medical evacuation from the space station in history, although not considered an emergency. The quartet splashed down in the Pacific off the coast of San Diego on Jan. 15 after 5 1/2 months on board.

The station’s population remained at three for a month until Crew-12 arrived to the station after launching from Cape Canaveral on Feb. 13.

The reason for the evacuation was the station did not have advanced medical imaging on board. NASA was careful not to reveal Fincke was the reason behind the evacuation, and only gave out this information at Fincke’s behest. NASA previously dealt with a medical issue that arose after the Crew-8 landing in 2024, which sent one of its four crew to the hospital, but NASA has yet to reveal which.

Fincke said he was grateful to all of his Expedition 74 crewmates on board the station including NASA’s Chris Williams and Rososmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikayev, who remained on the station after Crew-11’s departure.

He also thanked the entire NASA team, SpaceX and medical staff at Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla near San Diego.

“Their professionalism and dedication ensured a positive outcome,” he said.

Fincke did not reveal exactly what was behind the medical event.

“I’m doing very well and continuing standard post-flight reconditioning at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston,” he said. “Spaceflight is an incredible privilege, and sometimes it reminds us just how human we are. Thank you all for your support.”

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