NASA & SpaceX Astronaut In Hospital After Returning To Earth From Space Earlier Today

This is not investment advice. The author has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Wccftech.com has a disclosure and ethics policy.

NASA shared earlier today that a crew member on board SpaceX’s Crew 8 mission, which returned to Earth earlier today, experienced a rare medical issue and has been kept under observation in the hospital. NASA astronauts Michael Barratt, Jeanette Epps, and Matthew Dominick, along with Russian cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin, returned to Earth from the International Space Station earlier in the morning today. Soon after their return, the agency shared that the four were flown to a medical facility out of an “abundance of caution” and promised details later during the day.

Now, while NASA has decided to keep the astronaut’s name private, the agency’s carefully worded statement did confirm that it wasn’t the cosmonaut with a medical issue. The crew member is “in stable condition” according to the space agency and has been kept under observation.

NASA Astronauts Return To Earth After Spending 232 Days On Space Station

SpaceX and NASA’s Crew 8 mission was initially slated to return to Earth in August. Typical Crew Dragon missions stay in space for roughly 180 days, give or take. However, NASA, the International Space Station (ISS) and Boeing evaluated Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft between August and the ship’s return in September to determine whether it could support a crewed Earth return. Consequently, Crew 8 became the astronauts’ designated emergency vehicle for a while, and as a result, the ship…