Mike Fincke says NASA still investigating International Space Station illness

Mike Fincke details NASA's first medical evacuation

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) – The astronaut at the centre of NASA's first medical evacuation this year says doctors have yet to establish why he became suddenly ill aboard the International Space Station.

Four-time space traveller Mike Fincke was having dinner on 7 January, following preparations for a spacewalk scheduled for the next day, when the incident occurred.

Unable to speak and with no recollection of pain, he was seen in distress by his worried crewmates. They immediately responded and contacted flight surgeons on the ground for assistance.

"It was completely out of the blue. It was just amazingly quick," he said in an interview with The Associated Press at Houston's Johnson Space Center.

Fincke, 59, a retired Air Force colonel, said the episode continued for about 20 minutes before he felt normal again. He said he continues to feel well.

He had never encountered anything comparable before, nor has he experienced it since.

Medical investigation after the International Space Station episode

Doctors have excluded a heart attack, and Fincke said he was not choking. However, all other explanations remain possible, including a potential connection to his 549 days in weightlessness.

He was 5 ½ months into his most recent International Space Station mission when the issue hit him like "a very, very fast lightning bolt."

"My crewmates definitely saw that I was in distress," he said, noting that all six crew members gathered around him.

"It was all hands on deck within just a matter of seconds."

Fincke said he cannot share further details about the medical event. He said NASA wants to make sure astronauts do not fear that their medical privacy could be compromised should anything happen to them.

According to Fincke, the space station's ultrasound machine proved useful during the incident, and he has undergone many tests since coming back to Earth.

He said NASA is reviewing other astronauts' medical records to determine whether related events may have occurred in space.

Fincke revealed late last month that he was the astronaut who became ill, bringing an end to widespread public speculation.

Early return and hopes of flying again

He remains sorry that his illness led to the cancellation of the spacewalk. It would have been his 10th spacewalk and the first for crewmate Zena Cardman, while also prompting an early return for her and their other two crewmates.

SpaceX returned the crew on 15 January, more than a month ahead of schedule, and they were taken directly to hospital.

"I've been very lucky to be super healthy. So this was very surprising for everyone," he said.

Fincke stopped apologising to everyone only after NASA's new administrator, Jared Isaacman, told him to stop.

"This wasn't you. This was space, right?" his colleagues assured him. "You didn't let anybody down."

Always optimistic, Fincke still hopes he may one day return to space.