Four SpaceX Crew-11 members gather together for a crew portrait wearing their Dragon pressure suits during a suit verification check inside the International Space Station’s Kibo laboratory module on Jan. 9, 2026. Clockwise from bottom left are, NASA astronaut Mike Fincke, Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, NASA astronaut Zena Cardman, and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui. Image: NASA
NASA astronaut Mike Fincke wrapped up his time as commander of the International Space Station on Monday, Jan. 12, after just over a month in the position.
His time in the role is wrapping up a month earlier than anticipated after NASA decided to medically evacuate the four members of the SpaceX Crew-11 mission due to a “serious medical condition” with one of the four that became evident on Jan. 7. NASA leadership determined the proper diagnostic and treatment couldn’t take place onboard the ISS and decided to bring the crew home early.
During a change of command ceremony broadcast from the ISS, Fincke, 58, handed over the symbolic key to the space station to Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, 42. He called the early departure “bittersweet.”
“I just want to say thank you for the first part of Expedition 74, but also the last part of Expedition 73. It’s been really amazing,” Fincke said. “My friend Scott Kelly says that spaceflight is the biggest team sport and it’s true. We got a great time.
“Everybody really rose to the occasion for our expeditions and it’s been really a pleasure to be here.”
Fincke thanked his crew mates individually, wrapping up his comments by calling fellow NASA astronaut and fellow member of Crew-11, Zena Cardman, 38, “a rock star, superstar, awesome star.”
“It’s been a pleasure serving with you, watching you see Earth for the first time, riding on the rocks and now it’s coming to an end, where we get to go home. It’s bittersweet,” Fincke said.
Crew-11 is scheduled to undock from the space-facing port of the Harmony module at 5:05 p.m. EST (2205 UTC) on Wednesday, Jan. 14, and splash down off the coast of California around 3:40 a.m. EST on Thursday, Jan. 15.
The early departure of Crew-11 will leave the space station with just three people onboard for the first time since three-person expeditions ceased being the standard for the ISS in May 2009.
NASA astronaut Chris Williams, 42, a Harvard-educated physician, will be the lone American onboard the space station until Crew-12 arrives sometime in February. In a new update on Monday, NASA confirmed that Crew-12 will be on station for a nine-month, long-duration mission.
“Chris, you’re going to be the [U.S. Orbital Segment] lead in just a few minutes. You are the perfect guy for this. You’re going to rock it and roll it. It’s going to be amazing,” Fincke said to Williams. “It was great to have all the handover time with you and to really become a true friend.”
Kud-Sverchkov, the station’s new commander, flew to space alongside Williams and fellow cosmonaut Sergey Mikayev, 39, onboard Soyuz MS-28 on Nov. 27, 2025. This is his second spaceflight after launching to the ISS in May 2020 onboard Soyuz MS-17.