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Astronaut Mike Fincke medically evacuated from ISS after sudden loss of speech ability remains unexplained
14 articles |
Updated 3h ago |
Created 1d ago
American Space Commando and former US Air Force pilot, 52-year-old astronaut Commander Michael "Mike" Finckle was the first to be sent back down due to a medical emergency. He lost his voice while in space on March 17th but has not yet been able to explain why he suddenly fell ill or how it happened despite doctors' best efforts at diagnosis and treatment of this rare condition that is still considered mysterious by NASA's experts who are currently investigating the cause behind these symptoms which include difficulty speaking.
Key Points
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1NASA Astronaut Mike Fincke was medically evacuated from the ISS after experiencing a sudden, unexplained medical emergency on January 7.
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2During his illness at age six months in space (as per typical context for this event), he lost the ability to speak completely but retained other cognitive functions like thinking and moving around. This is consistent with 'locked-in' syndrome symptoms described by Fincke himself: "I was able to think, I could move my eyes..."
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3The cause of his sudden onset illness remains a mystery; doctors have not yet identified why he fell sick.
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4Fincke describes the incident as completely unexpected and amazingly quick while eating dinner on January 7.
Developments
[Mar] Jan. 04:25
Astronaut speaks about mysterious illness in space (German source)
[Feb/Mar?] Mar.
NASA's first medical evacuation from the ISS occurred on January.