Overview
- Mike Fincke, speaking Friday in new interviews, said months of tests have not explained the sudden episode that cut short his mission.
- The veteran astronaut lost the ability to speak for about 20 minutes during dinner on January 7, felt no pain, and the crew worked with flight surgeons using the station’s ultrasound.
- The event canceled a planned spacewalk that would have been his tenth and the first for crewmate Zena Cardman, and SpaceX flew the crew home on January 15 for hospital evaluation.
- Doctors have ruled out a heart attack and choking, and NASA is reviewing other astronauts’ records while withholding detailed results to protect medical privacy.
- Specialists are weighing whether long stints in microgravity, including Fincke’s 549 days in space, could play a role in similar transient events that matter for future deep-space trips.