Astronaut Mike Fincke Is Leaving NASA 7 Months After Health Emergency in Space That Led to the First Medical Evacuation From the ISS

Fincke flew four space missions, having spent 549 days in space.

Experienced NASA astronaut Mike Fincke is leaving the space agency.

Fincke ranks fourth among NASA astronauts in accumulated time in space (549 days), and his nine spacewalks added to a total of 48 hours and 37 minutes outside the Space Station.

His departure from NASA comes seven months after he experienced a medical emergency aboard the International Space Station, an incident that triggered a premature end to the SpaceX Crew-11 mission, and the first medical evacuation from space.

.@NASA astronaut Mike Fincke is departing the agency on Wednesday after 30 years of service. Throughout his career, he flew four missions, spent 549 days in space, and completed nine spacewalks in support of the @Space_Station.

He ranks fourth among NASA astronauts in… pic.twitter.com/h3K0vvWncG

— NASA Space Operations (@NASASpaceOps) August 12, 2026

CNN reported:

“Although he is leaving NASA, Fincke said he remains ‘deeply committed to the work of exploration’.

‘I am profoundly grateful to my crewmates, the teams on the ground, our international partners, and the families who make this work possible’, Fincke, who first joined the astronaut corps in 1996, said in a statement. ‘I am excited to carry those lessons forward and help prepare the next generation of engineers, explorers, and leaders. Together, we will return humanity to the Moon, travel to Mars, journey outward to the planets and moons beyond Earth, and someday reach for the stars – all while caring for Earth, the most beautiful planet in our solar system’.”

“The vast majority of his days in space were spent aboard the football-field-size ISS. His last stay at the orbital outpost garnered global attention when Fincke was overcome with a mysterious ailment, losing the ability to speak for roughly 20 minutes, Fincke later told news outlets, including the AP.”

“The ordeal prompted an urgent response from NASA. Fincke and his fellow SpaceX Crew-11 astronauts — NASA astronaut Zena Cardman, Kimiya Yui of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, and cosmonaut Oleg Platonov of the Russian space agency, Roscosmos — returned home from the space station in mid-January, weeks earlier than expected.”

NASA is not in the habit of sharing details of medical issues to protect astronauts’ privacy, but Fincke identified himself weeks after the incident, saying that it remains a mystery that NASA and medical researchers are working to solve.

Read more:

NASA’s Crew-11 Is Safely Back on Earth From International Space Station – Serious Health Issue With Astronaut Triggered Unprecedented Medical Evacuation (VIDEO COLLECTION)