WASHINGTON, Oct 25 (Reuters) – A NASA astronaut was flown to a hospital on Friday due to an unspecified medical issue. This occurred shortly after returning to Earth from a nearly eight-month mission on the International Space Station (ISS).
NASA did not disclose the astronaut’s name for privacy reasons. The astronaut splashed down off the coast of Florida at 3:29 a.m. ET (0729 GMT) aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule. They were accompanied by three other crew members: two NASA astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut.
The crew included U.S. astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, and Jeanette Epps, along with Russian cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin. Their 235 days in space exceeded the typical six-month ISS mission duration and marked the longest stay in orbit for SpaceX’s Crew Dragon.
Initially, NASA stated that the entire crew was taken to the medical center for additional evaluation. This was done out of caution, but it did not clarify whether all or some crew members had issues. Later, NASA confirmed that only one astronaut experienced a medical problem. The crew was flown to a hospital in Pensacola, Florida, near the splashdown site. The three other crew members have since left the hospital and returned to Houston.
NASA reported that the astronaut who remains in the hospital is stable and under observation as a precaution. The agency will not disclose further details about the astronaut’s condition.
Russia’s space agency, Roscosmos, shared a photo of Grebenkin on Telegram, showing him smiling and stating that he feels great after the mission.
The crew’s return had been delayed for weeks due to two hurricanes in the U.S. southeast, which affected the expected splashdown zones. SpaceX, owned by Elon Musk, has flown to the ISS 44 times. It is currently the only U.S. option for NASA astronaut transport to and from the ISS. Boeing’s Starliner, intended as a second option, has faced prolonged development issues.
Crew Dragon safely undocked from the ISS on Wednesday and reentered Earth’s atmosphere early Friday. It deployed parachutes before landing in the Gulf of Mexico.
During a post-splashdown news briefing, a NASA official noted that “the crew is doing great” and did not mention any issues. He did report two minor problems with the Crew Dragon’s parachute deployment. Richard Jones, deputy manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, explained that the initial set of braking parachutes experienced debris strikes. Additionally, one of the parachutes in a subsequent set took longer than expected to open. Neither event affected crew safety, and Jones described the splashdown weather as “ideal” for recovery.
The Crew Dragon spacecraft had completed its fifth flight, logging a total of 702 days in orbit since its first mission, according to SpaceX’s vice president of flight reliability, William Gerstenmaier.
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