NASA’s Crew-11 astronaut Michael Fincke has shared an update ahead of his team’s evacuation from the International Space Station (ISS) on January 14. In a LinkedIn post shared on Sunday, Fincke assured that all his teammates are stable and safe and that the evacuation decision by NASA was deliberate.
Fincke and his three colleagues – Zena Cardman, Oleg Platonov and Kimiya Yiu – are departing a few weeks earlier than planned owing to health issues with one of the members. NASA has not revealed the astronaut’s identity or the nature of their illness. Crew-11 launched on August 1, 2025 and was supposed to end after Crew-12‘s launch on February 15.
“First and foremost, we are all OK. Everyone on board is stable, safe, and well cared for,” Fincke posted with a picture of Crew-11 in SpaceX spacesuits. “This was a deliberate decision to allow the right medical evaluations to happen on the ground, where the full range of diagnostic capability exists. It’s the right call, even if it’s a bit bittersweet.”
He went to praise NASA for being considerate and jumping into action to bring the astronauts back as soon as possible.
‘Leaving ISS in great hands,’ says NASA astronaut
There are currently seven astronauts aboard the ISS and Crew-11’s departure will leave the station to a three-person team. NASA’s Chris Williams and Russian cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev of the Soyuz MS-28 mission will be responsible for managing station operations until they’re joined by Crew-12 astronauts.
“We’re leaving the ISS in great hands. The three crewmates who arrived in November will continue the mission, and they’ll be joined by Crew-12 in just a few weeks,” Fincke wrote.
The four astronauts will board SpaceX‘s Dragon spacecraft that is scheduled to undock from the station at 3:30 am IST on January 14 [5 p.m. EST, Jan 13] and splashdown in the Pacific Ocean at 2:10 pm IST on January 15 [3:40 am, Jan 15].
Fincke also applauded NASA’s partnership with SpaceX and Dragon’s reliability for a safe return to Earth on short notice.
The medical crisis was reported late last week and it forced NASA to cancel a scheduled spacewalk by Fincke and Cardman. While the former serves as a pilot for Crew-11, Cardman is the commander of the mission on her first spaceflight. It was the fourth mission for Fincke, second for Yui (mission specialist) and first for Platonov.
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