A NASA astronaut was hospitalised soon after returning from space after his almost eight-month mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
The ace space agency reported the astronaut’s condition was said to be stable, and the hospitalisation was described as a precaution.
The astronaut returned to Earth earlier in the week aboard a SpaceX capsule with three fellow crew members, including two more Americans and one Russian. Following its undocking from the ISS, their capsule touched down in the Gulf of Mexico, just off the coast of Florida.
After splashdown, the crew was retrieved, and a recovery team performed routine medical checks. Soon after, the NASA astronaut showed signs of a health issue and was taken to a Pensacola hospital for further evaluation as a cautionary step.
NASA has not disclosed the astronaut’s identity or any condition details, citing the individual’s right to privacy. Meanwhile, the other three astronauts were cleared and have returned to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
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The astronauts were originally scheduled to return two months earlier, but their journey was delayed due to technical issues with Boeing’s new Starliner capsule, and Hurricane Milton, followed by rough seas and high winds, where the touchdown was to happen.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX launched the team, which included NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, Jeanette Epps, and Russia’s Alexander Grebenkin, in March.
It is said that returning to Earth after months in space is tough on the body to adjust comfortably. Without gravity, muscles and bones weaken in space, causing problems like weak muscles, low blood pressure, and poor balance when astronauts return, which may affect some astronauts.
In some, even vision can get blurry, and they often feel tired. Doctors help them recover, but it takes weeks for them to fully adjust to Earth’s gravity.
