NASA astronaut spends night in hospital after eight months in space

© SpaceX

NASA sends and retrieves astronauts every six months. During this half-year, they live in orbit, 400 kilometers above the surface, in the ISS. If the departure missions to this giant tin can are unique moments, forever etched in their history, the return flight is just as important.

For this Crew-8 mission, it was Elon Musk's company, SpaceX, which was responsible for bringing 4 astronauts back to Earth. On board the Crew Dragon capsule, Russian cosmonaut Alexander Grebionkin, with Americans Michael Barratt, Matthew Dominick and Jeanette Epps. They left Earth on March 4th and will have spent a total of 232 days aboard the ISS.

A turbulent return

So it was this Friday, October 25th in the morning (Florida time) that the mission ended. The SpaceX capsule “Endeavour” was their last means of transport, before returning to Earth, for the first time in more than six months.

It was possible to follow the return of the astronauts via NASA's live feed and when the capsule hits the water, slowed down by its 4 parachutes, the commentators do not seem particularly worried. On the images everything appears normal, and this return to Earth looks like all the others.

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But very quickly, NASA will communicate about an “unusual” situation. The American space agency announces that the 4 astronauts present in the capsule will be transported to the hospital. At a press conference a few hours after the incident, NASA acknowledged that this hospitalization had been carried out ” out of an abundance of caution “.

All ends well

After a few hours, three of the 4 astronauts were brought back to the Florida space center to follow the standard protocol. Only one astronaut, whose identity has not been revealed, remained under observation for the night from Friday to Saturday.

This Monday, NASA assured that the 4 astronauts were back in Houston, at the control center of the American space agency. It assured in a communication this weekend that the ” astronauts are doing well ” and that they all followed the 4 ” normal post-flight reconditioning “.

A flight that raises questions

While the American agency has been very vocal about the health of its astronauts, it has not said much about the reasons that led to their hospitalization. However, on the live images of their return, everything seems to be going well.

The American space agency will most certainly conduct an internal investigation to understand the reasons for this incident. The astronauts should also, during their next media appearances, help us better understand the last minutes of their journey.

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