Astronauts Remain Silent About Health Issues Upon Returning from the ISS.

Three NASA astronauts who recently returned from the International Space Station (ISS) have stated that they are in good health, although they have chosen not to comment on the medical issue that led to their transfer to a hospital after returning to Earth. The members of the Crew-8 mission landed on October 25 and were taken for routine medical checks; subsequently, the team was transferred to Ascension Sacred Heart Pensacola Hospital for further evaluations, where one of the members was hospitalized.

The space agency has not specified which of the astronauts, including Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin, as well as NASA astronauts Michael Barratt, Matthew Dominick, and Jeanette Epps, required hospitalization and the reasons behind it. However, NASA indicated that the re-entry and splashdown process of their spacecraft was normal and that the affected member was discharged the following day in good health.

During a press conference on November 8, Barratt mentioned that they would not provide details about the incident for medical privacy reasons. "Spaceflight is still something we do not fully understand. Sometimes we find things we did not expect, and this was one of those occasions," he commented. "We are still in the process of gathering information about this, and to maintain medical privacy and allow our processes to proceed in an orderly manner, this is all we will say for now."

The astronaut, who is a trained physician, added that information regarding the incident will be shared in the future: "Space medicine is my passion. How we adapt and how we experience human flight is something we take very seriously. Over time, we will allow this information to come to light and be documented. But for now, medical privacy is very important to us."

The astronauts also shared their experiences about readjusting to life on Earth after spending 235 days in space. Readjustment is often a challenge, with issues such as muscle mass loss and vision disturbances being common during spaceflight. "I'm a first-time flyer, and I'm fascinated by the readjustment," said Dominick, who took the challenges with humor. “The big things you expect, like feeling disoriented or dizzy. But the little things, like just sitting in a hard chair. My butt hasn't been on something hard for 235 days, and as part of some research activities, I've had to sit on a bicycle for a long time, and it turns out to be pretty uncomfortable. I didn't expect that. "There wasn’t a book that said: ‘Hey, you’re going to space, it’s going to be hard to sit in a hard chair.’"

The team expressed their gratitude to their colleagues and families, highlighting the great enthusiasm they felt towards the mission overall and the opportunity to travel to space. "We worked hard, but we also enjoyed our time there a lot," Epps commented.