Revision History

In January 2026, NASA conducted the first medical evacuation in the International Space Station's 25-year history after veteran astronaut Mike Fincke suddenly lost the ability to speak during dinner — an episode that remains medically unexplained months later. The incident left the station with a skeleton crew of three for nearly a month, disrupted hundreds of hours of planned experiments, and raised pointed questions about the adequacy of on-orbit medical capabilities as NASA pushes toward longer missions and the station's planned 2030 deorbit.