Crew-8 astronaut released from hospital

WASHINGTON — A member of the Crew-8 mission hospitalized for an unspecified medical issue after splashdown has been released after an overnight stay, NASA said Oct. 26.

In a statement, NASA said the astronaut, whose identify has not been disclosed, was released from Ascension Sacred Heart Pensacola hospital after an overnight stay. “The crew member is in good health and will resume normal post-flight reconditioning with other crew members,” the agency said.

NASA has not disclosed the identity of the astronaut or the medical condition that prompted the hospitalization. NASA said Oct. 25 that the astronaut “experienced a medical issue” and was hospitalized in stable condition.

The four members of the Crew-8 mission — NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt and Jeanette Epps along with Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin — returned to Earth early Oct. 25 on a Crew Dragon spacecraft after completing a 235-day mission, the longest for an American crewed spacecraft. The four appeared to be in good condition when taken off the Crew Dragon a little more than a half hour after splashdown, as seen on NASA’s broadcast of the mission’s return.

NASA said several hours later, though, that after the usual medical evaluations on the recovery ship, “the additional evaluation of the crew members was requested out of an abundance of caution.” All four were transported to the Pensacola hospital, but three were discharged from the hospital and returned to the Johnson Space Center a few hours later.

NASA has not provided any additional details about what happened to prompt the medical evaluations, including whether they might be linked to an issue with the Crew Dragon spacecraft or recovery operations. At a briefing about 90 minutes after splashdown, though, NASA and SpaceX officials said there were no issues with the spacecraft’s return, but also said at the time that the four people were “doing great” after splashdown.

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