Astronaut Mike Fincke retires from NASA

Mike Fincke, the NASA astronaut with the fourth highest accumulated space time — at 549 days — has retired, the agency announced Wednesday.

Fincke flew four missions with the agency and embarked on over 48 hours of space walks, according to NASA. Months before his retirement, he also became the first astronaut in NASA’s history to be medically evacuated from the International Space Station (ISS).

“NASA gave me the extraordinary privilege of serving alongside remarkable people, flying and helping develop spacecraft, and contributing to the International Space Station from its earliest days through command in orbit,” Fincke said in a statement announcing his retirement.

Throughout his 30-year tenure with NASA, Fincke has served as commander, mission specialist and flight engineer.

The astronaut recently piloted NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 mission, beginning in August 2025. The mission ended in January, a month early, after crew members were forced to evacuate the ISS due to Fincke facing a medical issue — though NASA originally kept the astronaut’s identity anonymous.

Fincke identified himself as the astronaut that sparked the evacuation in February, clarifying that the incident was not an emergency — rather, he said required advanced medical imaging not accessible on the ISS.

He expanded on the evacuation in a March interview with the Associated Press, saying he had temporarily lost his ability to speak for about 20 minutes. Fincke told NBC that doctors later ruled out a heart attack or stroke

“The doctors are still scratching their heads,” Fincke said to NBC.

“We’re almost 100 percent sure that this is a space-related thing,” he added.

The astronaut started at the agency in 1996, when he joined NASA’s 16th astronaut class, and went on his first mission to space eight years later.

Fincke is also a retired U.S. Air Force colonel and distinguished graduate of the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School. He served as a space systems engineer, flight test engineer and flight test liaison during his time in the Air Force — where he accumulated more than 2,000 flight hours in more than 30 aircraft types.

“Few people have had the opportunity to shape as many chapters of NASA’s history as Mike Fincke,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said in Wednesday’s announcement.