NASA astronaut Mike Fincke is sharing more about the medical event that caused an early end to the Crew-11 mission aboard the International Space Station. In an interview with the Associated Press, he said it happened with no warning and passed quickly, but doctors still do not understand the cause.
What Happened
On January 7, 2026, the night before he and Crew-11 Commander Zena Cardman were to perform a spacewalk — his 10th, her first — Fincke experienced a "medical event" that NASA declined to disclose for privacy reasons. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman categorized it as a "controlled medical evacuation," not an emergency deorbit.
In his AP interview at Johnson Space Center, Fincke said "out of the blue" he was unable to speak for about 20 minutes. He felt fine before and afterwards and does not know why. After numerous post-flight medical tests, neither do the doctors.
Mission Background
Crew-11 was five-and-a-half months into its mission with a nominal return in mid-late February. Fincke, Cardman, JAXA's Kimiya Yui, and Roscosmos's Oleg Platonov splashed down on January 15 off the coast of California. All spent the night at Scripps Memorial Hospital near San Diego so as not to reveal who was ill, then appeared fine at a post-mission press conference a week later.
"I am doing very well and continuing standard post-flight reconditioning" at Johnson Space Center, Fincke said in his earlier statement.
Impact on ISS Operations
NASA was able to accelerate the Crew-12 launch by a couple of days to February 13, but in the interim the Soyuz MS-28 crew had the entire International Space Station to themselves. Last week, NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Chris Williams performed the spacewalk that Fincke and Cardman had planned to do.
Fincke has declined to provide more information about his medical situation lest other astronauts worry their own medical issues might compromise their future spaceflight opportunities.