Overview
- Fincke, who spoke Friday, said the January 7 episode aboard the station left him unable to speak for about 20 minutes and he felt fine right after.
- Doctors have ruled out a heart attack and choking, with extensive testing still underway as teams look for other causes, including any link to long periods in weightlessness.
- The incident canceled a planned spacewalk and led NASA to order an early return on January 15 in the agency’s first controlled medical evacuation, with the crew splashing down in a SpaceX Dragon and heading to Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla.
- Crewmates used the station’s ultrasound and worked with flight surgeons in Houston, underscoring how current tools in orbit can assess only so much without hospital-grade imaging.
- Fincke said he regretted cutting short teammates’ plans, including Zena Cardman’s first spacewalk, but he stopped apologizing after NASA administrator Jared Isaacman told him not to blame himself.