A NASA astronaut who returned to Earth on a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft has been discharged from a US hospital after an overnight stay.
All four NASA astronauts that returned from the International Space Station (ISS) on October 25, 2024, were taken to Ascension Sacred Heart Pensacola in Florida after one of the crew members experienced a “medical issue”.
“After medical evaluation at the hospital, three of the crew members departed Pensacola and have arrived at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston,” NASA said in a statement.
In an update on October 26, 2024, NASA said that astronaut who stayed overnight in hospital was in “good health” and had joined colleagues for “normal post-flight reconditioning”.
“To protect the crew member’s medical privacy, specific details on the individual’s condition and identity will not be shared,” NASA said.
Splashdown. Welcome home, #Crew8! After a science mission of over seven months living and working on the @Space_Station, the crew of four are back on Earth. pic.twitter.com/6tvEBQRgLI
— NASA (@NASA) October 25, 2024
Astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, and Jeanette Epps, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin splashed down aboard the Dragon spacecraft near Pensacola, Florida.
They had completed a 235-day mission, 232 days of which were spent aboard the International Space Station conducting scientific research.
“Recovery of the crew and the spacecraft was without incident. During routine medical assessments on the recovery ship, the additional evaluation of the crew members was requested out of an abundance of caution,” NASA said.
The crew arrived back around two months later than planned due to issues with Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft and Hurricane Milton.
A separate SpaceX mission successfully lifted off from Florida’s Cape Canaveral on September 28, 2024.
It is heading to ISS to rescue two astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who have been stranded there since June 2024.