WASHINGTON: A NASA astronaut was taken to a hospital on Friday due to an unspecified medical issue shortly after returning to Earth from a nearly eight-month mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
The astronaut, whose identity has not been disclosed for privacy reasons, splashed down off the coast of Florida in SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule, accompanied by three other crew members—two NASA astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut.
Initially, NASA reported that the entire crew was transported to a medical center for evaluation as a precaution, but details about whether all or just some of the crew were experiencing issues were not provided. Later, the agency confirmed that one of its astronauts had encountered a medical issue, leading to their transport to a hospital in Pensacola, Florida, near the splashdown site.
The three other crew members have since been released from the hospital and returned to Houston, while the astronaut who remains at Ascension Sacred Heart Pensacola hospital is reported to be in stable condition and under observation.
NASA issued a statement indicating that the crew underwent standard medical evaluations upon exiting the spacecraft. They added that the precautionary measure of flying all crew members to the facility was taken out of an abundance of caution. The agency has not disclosed the nature of the astronaut’s medical condition.
Typically tight-lipped regarding astronaut medical issues, NASA declined to explain what prompted the precautionary measures or to elaborate on the crew’s overall health. Requests for comments regarding the condition of the Russian cosmonaut, Andrey Grebenkin, were not immediately addressed by Russia’s space agency.
SpaceX has successfully operated a fleet of reusable spacecraft and has completed 44 missions to the ISS. The company, owned by Elon Musk, remains NASA’s sole provider for astronaut transportation to and from the ISS, as Boeing’s Starliner has faced numerous development delays.
The Crew-8 astronauts spent 235 days in space, a duration longer than the typical six-month missions for astronauts aboard the ISS. This mission also marked the longest for SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft since its debut in 2020.
The crew’s return had been postponed for several weeks due to hurricanes impacting the expected splashdown areas. However, the Crew Dragon spacecraft safely undocked from the ISS on Wednesday afternoon and reentered Earth’s atmosphere early Friday morning, successfully deploying parachutes before landing in the Gulf of Mexico.
During a post-splashdown briefing, a NASA official stated that “the crew is doing great” and did not mention any astronaut issues at that time. However, they did report two minor problems related to the Crew Dragon’s parachute deployment. Richard Jones, the deputy manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, noted that the initial braking parachutes encountered “debris strikes,” and one of the four parachutes in the second set took longer than expected to deploy.
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