Astronaut says early return to Earth is "right call," but "bittersweet"

Astronaut Mike Fincke, commander of the International Space Station and a member of the crew NASA is bringing home early next week because of a medical issue, said Sunday he and his crewmates are "stable, safe and well cared for."

In an Linkedin post, Fincke, 58, said he and Crew 11 commander Zena Cardman, Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov "are all OK" and that NASA's decision to bring them home ahead of schedule was "the right call, even if it's a bit bittersweet."

He closed the post by saying the crew is "looking forward to coming home soon - back to our loved ones and to resolving any medical questions with the best care available."

If all goes well, Fincke and his crewmates will bid their three station colleagues farewell and undock from the outpost around 5 p.m. EST Wednesday.

At 2:50 a.m. Thursday, the Crew Dragon's braking rockets will fire to slow the ship and drop it out of orbit for splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Southern California at 3:40 a.m.

After medical checks aboard a SpaceX recovery ship, the crew will be flown to shore by helicopter, where a NASA plane will be waiting to fly them back to the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

The astronauts originally expected to return to Earth around Feb. 20, but NASA announced last Friday that Crew 11 had been told to cut their mission short after a crew member reported a medical issue the day before.

The astronaut in question was not identified and the nature of the medical concern was not disclosed under long-standing medical privacy guidelines.

But Fincke's LinkedIn post and a photo of Crew 11 checking out their pressure suits indicated the problem, whatever it might be, was not debilitating in any way.

"This was a deliberate decision to allow the right medical evaluations to happen on the ground, where the full range of diagnostic capability exists," Fincke wrote.

The photo, Fincke added, "was taken as we prepared our space suits for return - a normal, methodical step in getting ready to come home, and a reminder that this decision was made calmly and carefully, with people at the center."

Crew 11's early return marks the first time in NASA history that a crew has been told to cut its mission short because of a medical issue.

James Polk, NASA's chief medical officer, said Friday that according to statistical analyses, "we should have had a medical evacuation approximately every three years ... and we've not one to date."

"Even in this case, we're erring on the side of caution," he said. "Again, it's not an emergent evacuation, but we are erring on the side of caution for the crew member and in their best interest."

Fincke plans to turn over command of the station to cosmonaut Sergey Kud-Sverchkov during a brief ceremony Monday afternoon.

"What stands out most to me is how clearly NASA cares about its people," Fincke wrote. "Flight surgeons, engineers, managers and support teams came together quickly and professionally to chart the best path forward.

"The ground teams - across mission control centers and partner organizations around the world - have been extraordinary. We're proud of the joint work we've done and the camaraderie we've shared, including some great songs and more than a few dad jokes."

With the departure of Crew 11, Kud-Sverchkov and his Soyuz MS-28 crewmates — Sergey Mikaev and NASA astronaut Chris Williams — will have the station to themselves until Crew 11's replacements arrive.

As it now stands, Crew 12 commander Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot and cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev remain officially scheduled for launch Feb. 15. But NASA is working to move that target up a few days if possible.

"We're leaving the ISS in great hands," Fincke said. "The three crewmates who arrived in November will continue the mission, and they'll be joined by Crew-12 in just a few weeks."

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