--- title: "NASA Astronaut Reveals Terrifying Medical Incident That Caused Evacuation from Space Station" description: "NASA astronaut Mike Fincke said he suddenly was unable to speak while on board the ISS, triggering the first-ever medical evacuation." date: "2026-03-27" modified: "2026-03-27" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/space/astronaut-mike-fincke-medical-evacuation-details" categories: - "Crew Dragon" - "International Space Station" - "NASA" - "Off-World" - "Space" - "SpaceX" --- # NASA Astronaut Reveals Terrifying Medical Incident That Caused Evacuation from Space Station ![NASA astronaut Mike Fincke said he suddenly was unable to speak while on board the ISS, triggering the first-ever medical evacuation.]() *NASA* Earlier this year, NASA [announced]() the first-ever medical evacuation in the International Space Station's 25 years of continuous human occupation. Within days, the crew of four astronauts boarded their SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft, splashing down in the Pacific Ocean on January 15. They were immediately [whisked away in a helicopter]() to the nearby Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla, near San Diego, leaving the press with plenty of glaring questions. Last month, 59-year-old retired US Air Force colonel and crew member Mike Fincke [publicly identified himself as the one who had fallen ill]() and triggered the evacuation. Now he's finally ready to expand on what actually happened — and by all accounts, it sounds like a terrifying experience for both him and his fellow crew members. As the [*Associated Press* reports](), Fincke said he suddenly was unable to speak for a period of about 20 minutes while having dinner. Fincke and his fellow crewmates had just ended preparations for a spacewalk, which had to be cancelled as the incident unfolded. "It was completely out of the blue," he told the *AP*. "It was just amazingly quick." After they saw he was distressed, his crewmates jumped into action and requested help from flight surgeons back at Houston HQ. "It was all hands on deck within just a matter of seconds," he said. What exactly caused his momentary ability to speak remains a medical mystery. Doctors have ruled out choking or a heart attack. One particularly intriguing possibility remains: it may have had something to do with the fact that he had been five and a half months into his latest stint on board the space station, a prolonged period of being exposed to the microgravity of space. Scientists continue to study the health effects of space travel on the human body, from [bone density loss]() to [deteriorating vision](). How an inability to speak could in any way fit into the broader body of research remains unclear at best. After returning to Earth, Fincke has since been put through a gauntlet of tests, but a singular cause for the crisis has yet to be identified. "I’ve been very lucky to be super healthy," he told the *AP*. "So this was very surprising for everyone." In total, Fincke has spent 549 days in space. Despite experiencing what must have been a harrowing moment, he's still hoping to return, he told the *AP*. **More on the incident:** [*The Saga of NASA’s Space Station Evacuation Keeps Getting Stranger*]() ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()