NASA astronauts break their silence after a ‘dramatic’ incident aboard the International Space Station led to a mysterious hospital visit.
The crew had spent 235 days in space during their mission before arriving back on Earth last month.
However, upon their return the astronauts were mysteriously rushed to hospital where one was kept overnight at Ascension Sacred Heart Pensacola hospital.
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While NASA hasn’t released any information about the nature of the hospital stay, it confirmed that the astronaut was ‘in good health and will resume normal post-flight reconditioning with other crew members’.
Dr Mike Barratt, a physician-astronaut who was also the Crew-8 pilot, added: “I know there’s interest in our post-flight medical issue, where we detoured to a hospital.
“Space flight is still something we’re continually learning about. Surprises come up, and this was one of those times.
“We’re still piecing it all together, and out of respect for privacy, that’s all we’ll be saying for now.”
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It was during the mission that catastrophe struck as the crew prepared for a spacewalk.
Astronaut Tracy Dyson was returning to the spacecraft with cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub when she spotted water leaking from an umbilical in the airlock.
This was resulting in ice forming throughout the chamber.
At the time, it’s reported that she said: “There’s water everywhere… I’ve got ice all over my helmet.”
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Ice began to fill the airlock in a situation that Barratt described as ‘dramatic’.
Barratt went on to say that Dyson was ‘nothing short of heroic’ after she battled with her icy gloves and obstructed vision to reattach the umbilical.
Barratt said: “None of our spacesuits are spring chickens, so we expect to see hardware issues with repeated use.”
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NASA has since confirmed that upgrades to suits and the airlock are underway and spacewalks are expected to resume in the new year.
But this isn’t the only dramatic turn of events that have occurred in space in the last few months.
Earlier this year, two astronauts became stranded on the ISS after they ran into some serious issues with their spacecraft Starliner's propulsion system.
Five of the spacecraft’s maneuvering thrusters had reportedly stalled, with five helium leaks and a faulty propellant valve.
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Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were only meant to be on an eight day mission but they have been trapped in space since June.
It’s likely that they won’t be able to return to Earth until 2025 as they wait to be picked up by SpaceX Crew-9.