NASA’s Mike Fincke identifies himself as the ailing astronaut who prompted space station evacuation

NASA’s Mike Fincke identified himself Wednesday as the astronaut whose medical condition prompted the space agency’s first medical evacuation.

In a written statement, the 58-year-old spaceflight veteran revealed that he was the ill crew member last month aboard the International Space Station. He did not specify what was wrong with him but explained that his condition was quickly stabilized thanks to his teammates and the flight surgeons on the ground.

Fincke said he is fine now.

“Spaceflight is an incredible privilege, and sometimes it reminds us how human we are,” he said in the release.

Fincke launched with three others on a SpaceX flight last summer. Their mission ended prematurely on Jan. 15, a week after he experienced what he called a “medical event requiring immediate attention” from his fellow astronauts. Health concerns also forced the cancellation of a planned spacewalk by Fincke and another NASA astronaut.

After landing in the Pacific, the four astronauts were transported to a hospital in San Diego. They returned home to Houston the next day.

With the ailing astronaut’s identity still secret, Fincke said at a news conference a week after his return that the space station’s ultrasound machine had come in handy during the medical crisis.

He clarified Wednesday that his situation was not an emergency but that everyone wanted to “take advantage of advanced medical imaging not available on the space station.”

Fincke, a retired Air Force colonel who became an astronaut in 1996, spent 549 days in space during four missions.

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