NASA's crew member, Mike Fincke, suddenly lost the ability to speak during a dinner on the International Space Station (ISM) in January, prompting NASA's first-ever medical evacuation from the ISS. The incident occurred during the final month of the crew's mission and was initially kept quiet by the agency. Fincoke had been preparing to conduct a spacewalk, a procedure he had previously done nine times on previous ISS missions. The ISS has a well-stocked pharmacy and a suite of medical equipment to periodically assess crew health, perform self-diagnoses, and treat illnesses and injuries. While there is no evidence directly linking microgravity to sudden loss of speech (also known as aphasia), Fincce's condition may have been related to the 549 days he's spent in weightlessness.