Astronaut Mike Fincke, commander of the Worldwide Area Station and a member of the crew NASA is bringing dwelling early subsequent week due to a medical concern, mentioned Sunday he and his crewmates are “secure, secure and properly cared for.”
In an Linkedin publish, Fincke, 58, mentioned he and Crew 11 commander Zena Cardman, Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov “are all OK” and that NASA’s choice to convey them dwelling forward of schedule was “the appropriate name, even when it is a bit bittersweet.”
He closed the publish by saying the crew is “wanting ahead to coming dwelling quickly – again to our family members and to resolving any medical questions with the perfect care obtainable.”
NASA 
If all goes properly, Fincke and his crewmates will bid their three station colleagues farewell and undock from the outpost round 5 p.m. EST Wednesday.
At 2:50 a.m. Thursday, the Crew Dragon’s braking rockets will hearth to gradual the ship and drop it out of orbit for splashdown within the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Southern California at 3:40 a.m.
After medical checks aboard a SpaceX restoration ship, the crew might be flown to shore by helicopter, the place a NASA aircraft might be ready to fly them again to the Johnson Area Heart in Houston.
The astronauts initially anticipated to return to Earth round Feb. 20, however NASA introduced final Friday that Crew 11 had been informed to chop their mission quick after a crew member reported a medical concern the day earlier than.
The astronaut in query was not recognized and the character of the medical concern was not disclosed beneath long-standing medical privateness tips.
However Fincke’s LinkedIn publish and a photograph of Crew 11 testing their stress fits indicated the issue, no matter it may be, was not debilitating in any method.
“This was a deliberate choice to permit the appropriate medical evaluations to occur on the bottom, the place the complete vary of diagnostic functionality exists,” Fincke wrote.
The photograph, Fincke added, “was taken as we ready our house fits for return – a standard, methodical step in on the point of come dwelling, and a reminder that this choice was made calmly and punctiliously, with folks on the middle.”
Crew 11’s early return marks the primary time in NASA historical past {that a} crew has been informed to chop its mission quick due to a medical concern.
James Polk, NASA’s chief medical officer, mentioned Friday that in line with statistical analyses, “we should always have had a medical evacuation roughly each three years … and we have not one so far.”
“Even on this case, we’re erring on the aspect of warning,” he mentioned. “Once more, it is not an emergent evacuation, however we’re erring on the aspect of warning for the crew member and of their finest curiosity.”
Fincke plans to show over command of the station to cosmonaut Sergey Kud-Sverchkov throughout a quick ceremony Monday afternoon.
“What stands out most to me is how clearly NASA cares about its folks,” Fincke wrote. “Flight surgeons, engineers, managers and help groups got here collectively rapidly and professionally to chart the perfect path ahead.
“The bottom groups – throughout mission management facilities and accomplice organizations around the globe – have been extraordinary. We’re pleased with the joint work we have finished and the camaraderie we have shared, together with some nice songs and quite a lot of dad jokes.”
With the departure of Crew 11, Kud-Sverchkov and his Soyuz MS-28 crewmates — Sergey Mikaev and NASA astronaut Chris Williams — can have the station to themselves till Crew 11’s replacements arrive.
Because it now stands, Crew 12 commander Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, European Area Company astronaut Sophie Adenot and cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev stay formally scheduled for launch Feb. 15. However NASA is working to maneuver that concentrate on up a couple of days if attainable.
“We’re leaving the ISS in nice palms,” Fincke mentioned. “The three crewmates who arrived in November will proceed the mission, and so they’ll be joined by Crew-12 in just some weeks.”
