Mike Fincke

Mike Fincke is a NASA astronaut who recently served as the captain of Crew 11 on the International Space Station (ISS). He is newsworthy because he was part of a four-person crew that had to return to Earth approximately a month earlier than scheduled due to a "serious" but undisclosed medical issue affecting one of the crew members. The mission was cut short, and a planned spacewalk was canceled. Fincke, along with fellow astronauts Zena Cardman, Kimiya Yui (Japan), and Oleg Platonov (Russia), returned to Earth in a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, splashing down off the coast of California. The event marks NASA's first-ever medical evacuation from the ISS, highlighting the challenges and risks associated with long-duration space missions and the importance of onboard medical capabilities, such as the ultrasound machine mentioned as being critical during the crisis.