Veteran NASA astronaut Mike Fincke is stepping away from his position at the space agency. The news comes months after he experienced a medical emergency aboard the International Space Station, forcing him and his three crewmates to end the trip prematurely. Fincke’s last day at the space agency is Wednesday, NASA said in a news release. Although he is leaving NASA, Fincke said he remains “deeply committed to exploration work.” “I am deeply grateful to my crewmates, the teams on the ground, our international partners and the families who make this work possible,” Fincke, who first joined the astronaut corps in 1996, said in a statement. “I am excited to carry those lessons forward and help prepare the next generation of engineers, explorers and leaders. Together, we will return humanity to the Moon, travel to Mars, travel to the planets and moons beyond Earth, and one day reach the stars, all while taking care of Earth, the most beautiful planet in our solar system.” Neither Fincke nor NASA provided details about what they plan to do next. 🚀 Get the Countdown newsletter Sign up to receive updates from CNN Science on the total solar eclipse and whenever there’s an out-of-this-world expedition you need to see. Plus, delve into the future of space exploration. Over the course of his three-decade career, Fincke flew four missions to space, accumulating 549 days in orbit (fourth most among his NASA colleagues) and completed nine spacewalks. The vast majority of his days in space were spent aboard the football-field-sized ISS. His last stay at the orbital outpost drew worldwide attention when Fincke suffered a mysterious ailment and lost the ability to speak for about 20 minutes, Fincke later told media outlets, including the AP. The ordeal prompted an urgent response from NASA. Fincke and his fellow SpaceX Crew-11 astronauts — NASA astronaut Zena Cardman, Kimiya Yui of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and cosmonaut Oleg Platonov of the Russian space agency Roscosmos — returned home from the space station in mid-January, weeks earlier than expected. The group’s sudden departure marked the first time in history that NASA had to interrupt a staffing mission to the ISS for health reasons. At the time, the space agency did not reveal which astronaut had the medical problem or reveal the nature of the problem, sparking a wave of speculation. NASA typically does not share details of medical emergencies or name the astronaut involved to protect their privacy, but Fincke identified himself weeks after the incident. In an interview with the AP, Fincke said the medical event remains a mystery that NASA and medical researchers are working to solve. His loss of ability to speak was not like drowning, Fincke said, but his crewmates “definitely saw that he was in danger” and responded quickly. “Everyone got to work in a matter of seconds.” NASA had said during the crew’s return trip that the affected astronaut was in stable condition. And Fincke noted in a February statement that the agency had determined that the crew should return to Earth to take advantage of “advanced medical imaging not available on the space station.” The ISS is equipped with medical equipment, although it does not have all the tools typical of an emergency room. The unexpected medical issue set off a rapid series of events as NASA canceled a planned spacewalk, quickly scheduled the group’s return trip and then worked to accelerate the launch of the space agency’s next personnel mission to the orbiting outpost. The departure of Fincke and his Crew-11 companions left the station with only three astronauts for a short time. A group of four astronauts, known as Crew-12, arrived at the space station on February 14, bringing staffing to seven people, the number NASA normally wants to keep scientific experiments and other tasks going.
