Overview
- Fincke disclosed he suffered a Jan. 7 medical event aboard the ISS and said his crewmates and NASA flight surgeons quickly stabilized him.
- NASA characterized the decision to bring Crew-11 home early as a coordinated precaution to obtain diagnostics not possible in orbit, and the incident scrubbed a planned Jan. 8 spacewalk.
- Crew-11 undocked Jan. 14 and splashed down off San Diego on Jan. 15 after about five and a half months in space, marking the station’s first medical-driven early crew return.
- Fincke says he is doing very well and is in standard post‑flight reconditioning in Houston, and neither he nor NASA has disclosed the specific diagnosis; he thanked his crewmates, SpaceX, and Scripps medical staff.
- ISS operations were briefly scaled back with a three-person crew until Crew-12 arrived and docked on Feb. 14, restoring normal staffing and activities.