Four astronauts, including three from NASA and one Russian cosmonaut, made a splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico early Friday morning, but their journey home took an unexpected turn.
Instead of heading straight to Houston, they were taken to a medical facility in Florida for evaluation.
The crew, part of the Crew-8 mission, landed safely at 3:29 a.m. ET after spending nearly eight months aboard the International Space Station (ISS). While the splashdown was successful, NASA reported that one astronaut was hospitalized for a medical issue, according to CNN.
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Crew-8 Completes Record Mission
Following the splashdown, the astronauts were seen smiling and waving as they exited their SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule and boarded a recovery ship. They had just completed the longest duration mission for a US crewed vehicle, spending 235 days in space.
Despite initial health checks showing no immediate concerns, all four crew members were taken to Ascension Sacred Heart Pensacola hospital for further evaluation.
The Crew-8 team consisted of NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, Jeanette Epps, and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin. Their mission was marked by delays, primarily due to issues with Boeing's Starliner spacecraft, which limited docking options at the ISS.
The astronauts were unable to return home until after the Starliner had completed its mission. While the other three astronauts successfully flew to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston after their evaluations, the situation surrounding the hospitalized astronaut remains a focus for NASA as they emphasize the importance of medical privacy.
The space agency plans to conduct further studies to ensure astronaut health and safety in future missions, according to the New York Times.
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