NASA revealed that astronaut Mike Fincke was the crew member who suffered a medical incident at the International Space Station in January, which prompted the agency to carry out the first evacuation due to a medical issue in the space station’s 25-year history.The rare decision to cut a mission short and bring Fincke and three other crew members home early made for a dramatic week in space early this year.In a statement released by NASA “at the request of Fincke,” the veteran astronaut said he experienced a medical event on Jan. 7 “that required immediate attention” from his space station crew members.AdvertisementAdvertisement“Thanks to their quick response and the guidance of our NASA flight surgeons, my status quickly stabilized,” Fincke said in the statement.The medical incident forced NASA to cancel a spacewalk that had been planned for Jan. 8. That same day, the agency said it was considering a rare early return for the four-person Crew-11 mission, which included Fincke and fellow NASA astronaut Zena Cardman, Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov.At the time, NASA said the situation was stable, but did not provide additional details about the incident or the affected crew member due to medical privacy concerns.NASA astronaut Mike Fincke helped out of the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft onboard the SpaceX recovery ship SHANNON after he, NASA astronaut Zena Cardman, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov landed in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego, Calif., on Jan. 15. (Bill Ingalls / NASA)(Bill Ingalls)Fincke, Cardman, Yui and Platonov had been living and working aboard the International Space Station since early August and were originally expected to stay at the orbiting outpost until late February.AdvertisementAdvertisementInstead, top NASA officials and the agency’s chief health and medical officer opted to bring the astronauts back to Earth a week after the incident occurred.“After further evaluation, NASA determined the safest course was an early return for Crew-11 — not an emergency, but …
