FILE - In his image provided by NASA, NASA astronaut Mike Fincke is helped out of the SpaceX Crew-11 capsule after they re-entered the Earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (Bill Ingalls/NASA via AP, File)
jkNASA鈥檚 Mike Fincke identified himself Wednesday as the astronaut whose medical condition prompted the space agency鈥檚 first medical evacuation.
In a written statement, the 58-year-old spaceflight veteran revealed he was the last month aboard the . He did not say what was wrong with him but explained that his condition quickly stabilized thanks to his crewmates and flight surgeons on the ground.
Fincke said he鈥檚 doing well now.
鈥淪paceflight is an incredible privilege, and sometimes it reminds us just how human we are,鈥 he said in the statement.
Fincke launched with three others on a SpaceX flight last summer. Their mission came to an early end on Jan. 15, a week after he experienced what he called a 鈥渕edical event that required immediate attention" by his fellow astronauts. The health concern also forced the cancellation of a planned spacewalk by Fincke and another NASA astronaut.
Following their splashdown in the Pacific, all four astronauts were taken to a San Diego hospital. They flew home to Houston the next day.
With the sick astronaut's identity still a secret, Fincke said at a news conference a week after returning that the space station's ultrasound machine came in handy during the medical crisis.
He elaborated Wednesday, stressing that his situation was not an emergency but that everyone wanted 鈥渢o take advantage of advanced medical imaging not available on the space station.鈥
Fincke, a retired Air Force colonel who became an astronaut in 1996, has logged 549 days in space over four missions.
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The Associated Press Health and 国产诱惑福利 Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute鈥檚 Department of 国产诱惑福利 Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
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