NASA astronaut who required evacuation from ISS 'doing very well'

by AFP Staff Writers
New York (AFP) Feb 25, 2026
The astronaut who faced a health issue prompting the first-ever medical evacuation in International Space Station history is "doing very well," he said in a statement issued by NASA on Wednesday.

Mike Fincke, 58, said he's "doing very well and continuing standard post-flight reconditioning" at NASA's center in Houston.

NASA had previously declined to identify which astronaut experienced the "medical event," the details of which they still did not disclose in Wednesday's statement.

The health issue prompted NASA to cut short the mission of a quartet including Americans Fincke and Zena Cardman along with Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov and Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui.

Fincke said that his January 7 health mishap required "immediate attention from my incredible crewmates."

"Thanks to their quick response and the guidance of our NASA flight surgeons, my status quickly stabilized."

The early flight home was not due to emergency, he said, but rather to "take advantage of advanced medical imaging not available on the space station."

The crew splashed down off the California coast on January 15.

"Spaceflight is an incredible privilege, and sometimes it reminds us just how human we are," Fincke said.

Related Links
Space Medicine Technology and Systems