In early January, NASA unexpectedly announced it had been forced to delay a scheduled spacewalk involving two crewmates on board the International Space Station, citing a “medical situation” that “involved a single crew member who is stable.”
Two days later, the agency announced the first-ever medical evacuation in the space station’s 25 years of continuous human occupation, a historic moment highlighting the possible severity of the situation.
The affected crew members of the Crew-11 mission — NASA astronauts Mike Fincke and Zena Cardman, Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov — safely splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of southern California on January 15 and were promptly helicoptered to the nearby Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla near San Diego, leaving us with far more questions than answers.
Now, seven weeks later, Fincke has voluntarily stepped forward, announcing in a NASA statement that it was he who had “experienced a medical event that required immediate attention from my incredible crewmates.”
Fincke is a retired US Air Force colonel and was selected to be an astronaut back in 1996. The Crew-11 mission, which launched in August, was his fourth trip to space. He was also initially selected in 2019 to pilot Boeing’s much-troubled Starliner spacecraft, but — perhaps fortunately — never got the chance.
“Thanks to their quick response and the guidance of our NASA flight surgeons, my status quickly stabilized,” Fincke said. “I am deeply grateful to my fellow Expedition 74 members… as well as the entire NASA team, SpaceX, and the medical professionals at Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla near San Diego.”
But beyond revealing a “carefully coordinated plan to be able to take advantage of advanced medical imaging not available on the space station,” we still don’t know what caused the space station’s first medical evacuation in history, leaving us with the simple question: why come forward without revealing what happened?
In a statement to Futurism, NASA press secretary Bethany Stevens said it was Fincke’s choice to identify himself as the crew member who had the medical incident, not NASA.
“Given medical privacy laws and the overall sensitivity of the situation, this decision was entirely up to the individual involved,” Stevens wrote. “We know now, that in this case, that was Mike Fincke, because he self-identified.”
Stevens also suggested that Fincke may have chosen to protect his fellow crew members from being the subject of speculation and unfounded conspiracy theories.
“I can’t speak to Mike’s motivations in self-identifying, but given the scrutiny and speculation, I would guess he is hopeful that his brave step forward will decrease the conspiracies online that target his crewmates,” Stevens added in her statement to Futurism.
Needless to say, it’s a delicate matter. Fincke could have a litany of personal reasons not to publicize any details regarding his earlier condition that required an evacuation, and he’s entirely within his rights to withhold that information.
But given the extremely public nature of his employment as a NASA astronaut, questions are bound to arise, especially given it’s the first-ever medical evacuation of its kind.
It’s ultimately up to Fincke to tell the likely harrowing tale. But when or if that will happen remains unclear.
More on the situation: Astronauts Helicoptered to Hospital After Mystery Evacuation From Space Station