NASA astronaut's statement on emergency landing following 'medical event' sparks more questions

The identity of the astronaut who triggered the first medical evacuation of the International Space Station (ISS) in its history has been revealed.

NASA initially kept the name of the sick spaceman under wraps and simply said a 'single crew member on board the station' had 'experienced a medical situation'.

But now, at the request of the astronaut involved, the US space agency has now announced that it was Mike Fincke whose health prompted Crew-11's mission to end prematurely.

Although some space enthusiasts might feel a sense of closure now the mystery has been solved, others say they have been left with more questions than answers.

On Wednesday, NASA said it was sharing a statement 'at the request of' Fincke, several weeks after it was announced that he was suffering from a 'serious medical condition' while onboard the ISS.

The NASA veteran, 58, had headed up there with Illinois-born astronaut Zena Cardman, Japan's Kimiya Yui and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov in August 2025.

Platonov, Fincke, Cardman and Yui seen heading off on the six-month mission that was cut short (Photo by Gregg Newton / AFP) (Photo by GREGG NEWTON/AFP via Getty Images)

But their six-month space expedition was cut short after health experts ruled it was better to 'err on the side of caution' and get them back down to Earth to confirm what was wrong with the unwell crew member.

NASA and SpaceX worked in tandem to get the gang home in the SpaceX Dragon capsule, which splashed down off the coast of California on 15 January.

Now, Fincke has offered some further context on what led to evacuation - but in the eyes of a lot of folks, he didn't go far enough.

In a statement, he explained that he 'experienced a medical event that required immediate attention from his incredible crew mates' on 7 January.

"Thanks to their quick response and the guidance of our NASA flight surgeons, my status quickly stabilised," Fincke, who was first selected as an astronaut by NASA in 1996, said.

"After further evaluation, NASA determined the safest course was an early return for Crew-11 - not an emergency, but a carefully coordinated plan to be able to take advantage of advanced medical imaging not available on the space station. On Jan. 15, we splashed down off the coast of San Diego after an amazing five-and-a-half-month mission."

Mike Fincke, 58, has announced that he was the astronaut who suffered a medical issue on the ISS in January (NASA)

Fincke continued: "I am deeply grateful to my fellow Expedition 74 members — 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. Their professionalism and dedication ensured a positive outcome."

The father-of-three said he is now 'doing very well' and is continuing standard post-flight reconditioning at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

"Spaceflight is an incredible privilege, and sometimes it reminds us just how human we are," he added. "Thank you all for your support."

Loads of people offered Fincke their well wishes on social media, with one person saying: "Glad to hear he’s doing well. Wishing him a smooth recovery."

But a host of users on X complained that they still felt in the dark about the astronaut's health and suggested NASA or Fincke should have offered up more information.

One person bluntly asked: "But what was the medical event?"

It was the first time a crew has ever been evacuated from International Space Station due to a health problem (Paolo Nespoli - ESA/NASA via Getty Images)

Another added: "It says nothing about his condition. Why tweet this?"

A third demanded: "We need some more info! What happened?"

A fourth inquisitive person said: "Appreciate the honesty. Not to be nosy, but I really would like to know more."

Others were quick to remind people that being an astronaut doesn't automatically mean your personal medical details have to be shared with the public, while some said they were 'deeply appreciative' that Fincke had divulged even a small amount of information.

NASA's chief health and medical officer, Dr James Polk, said in January that the poorly astronaut had not had 'an injury that occurred in the pursuit of operations'.

"It's mostly having a medical issue in the difficult areas of microgravity, and with the suite of hardware that we have at our avail to complete a diagnosis," Dr Polk said at the time.

"Any time we have a medical incident, we embark on looking at diagnoses and what we would call a workup to get a differential diagnosis on what's happening with that patient or astronaut on board."