Astronauts remain secretive on details of hospital trip after extended trip to space

The NASA astronauts’ trip was extended for two extra months due to technical issues

The group of NASA astronauts, from left: cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin, pilot Michael Barratt, commander Matthew Dominick and mission specialist Jeanette Epps (AP/John Raoux)

A group of NASA astronauts have remained secretive about why they were taken to hospital after their prolonged space station mission.

Astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt and Jeanette Epps spent 235 days in space after their trip was prolonged due to trouble with their capsule and rough weather,

Soon after they returned from the International Space Station on 25 October, the trio was taken to hospital in Pensacola along with Russian cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin, who launched with them back in March.

One of the Americans ended up spending the night there for an undisclosed “medical issue”. However, NASA declined to say who was hospitalised or why, citing medical privacy.

The astronauts were taken to hospital in Pensacola in what NASA said was ‘an abundance of caution’ (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

The astronauts have once again declined to divulge details on the hospital trip when asked at a news conference on Friday in Houston which one had been sick.

Mr Barratt, who was the only member of the crew who had flown in space before, said: “Spaceflight is still something we don’t fully understand. We’re finding things that we don’t expect sometimes. This was one of those times.

“We’re still piecing things together. I’m a medical doctor, space medicine is my passion, and how we adapt, how we experience human space flight, is something that we all take very seriously. In the fullness of time, we will allow this to come out.”

Soon after their SpaceX capsule splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico off the Florida coast, the astronauts were taken to the Ascension Sacred Heart hospital in Pensacola, in what NASA said was “an abundance of caution”.

It was here that one of the crew was “briefly detained” but was later released “in good health” to continue “post-flight reconditioning”.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off carrying NASA's SpaceX Crew (Reuters)

The mission was supposed to end in August but was extended for two extra months due to technical issues with Boeing’s Starliner crew capsule and rough weather, including Hurricane Milton.

The two astronauts who served as test pilots for Boeing‘s Starliner — Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams — will remain at the space station until February, five months after what was supposed to be a week-long mission, before flying back with SpaceX.

Mr Dominick, the mission’s commander, said: “You’re like, are we going home tomorrow? You call your wife, like, hey, we’re coming home tomorrow, and then we’re not, and then we’re coming home, no, next week. Maybe.

“That part was entertaining to deal with, but it was definitely great to spend bonus time in space.”

Speaking about their first days back on earth after nearly eight months, Mr Dominick added: “The big things you expect, being disoriented, being dizzy.

“But the little things, like just sitting in a hard chair, my backside has not really sat in a hard thing for 235 days… It’s rather uncomfortable, right? I did not expect that, right?

“I remember like the third or fourth day after we got back, we were sitting outside on our patio, with my family eating dinner, and I just wanted to be a part of the family and be there with the activities, but I couldn’t sit on that hard chair any more. I just laid a towel down on the ground.”