Three NASA astronauts that just wraps it up 235-day mission to the International Space Station discussed the flight with reporters on Friday, but declined to comment. about medical problems some of which caused one astronaut to stay in the hospital after landing.
The unidentified astronaut flew back to the Johnson Space Center in Houston the day after the splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico on October 25, rejoining their crewmates. But NASA, citing medical privacy concerns, did not provide any further details other than to say the astronaut “is healthy and will continue normal post-flight rehabilitation with other crew members.”
SpaceX
“I know there is some interest in the post-flight medical event, where we are transferred to the hospital,” Crew 8 pilot Mike Barratt, a physician-astronaut, told reporters Friday. “You know, spaceships are still unknown. We’re discovering things we didn’t expect, and this is one of those times.
“We’re still putting the matter together. So in order to maintain medical privacy and to keep our process moving forward in an orderly manner, this is all we will say about the event at this time.”
Barratt, Crew 8 commander Matt Dominick, astronaut Jeanette Epps and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin were launched from the Kennedy Space Center on March 3 and docked at the space station two days later. He returned to Earth last month after spending time in space.
Barratt, Dominick and Epps all looked healthy and in good spirits on Friday as they continued to readjust to gravity. Grebenkin flew back to Moscow shortly after the splashdown, but in a social media post after the crew returned to Earth, he smiled and said he was in good shape.
While the minor’s medical problems remain a mystery, the crew shared highlights of their stay in space, including details about a water leak during preparations for a June spacewalk that caused a blizzard in the space station’s airlock.
NASA
After “discomfort” issues in space forced Dominick and astronaut Tracy Dyson to cancel their planned spacewalk on June 13, Dyson and Barratt suited up for another trip on June 24.
While floating in the airlock with the outer door open to space, the umbilical failed to “sit” properly and water began spewing into the chamber.
“Oh my gosh,” Dyson said as he saw the water gushing out. “There was a lot of water flowing. There was obviously water everywhere. … I had ice on my helmet.”
“This is not an insignificant leak,” Barratt said on Friday. “Anyone watching NASA TV at the time could see there was a blizzard, a blizzard coming out of the airlock, because we had the door open. We saw ice flakes in the airlock. Tracy saw a lot of them in her helmet. , in gloves, or not.
“So…dramatic is the right word, to be honest. I think literally, Tracy’s actions were not that heroic to be able to connect that umbilical with her hands covered in ice and her vision. broke and closed the airlock.”
Barratt said he held the legs that fit into place so Dyson could “lift the thing closed, and he just made it happen. So yeah, there was a little bit of drama. Everything worked out fine. .”
NASA plans to resume spacewalks in January, and Barratt said the suit will be in good shape.
“I think that we will leave the new umbilical, a very clean interface on the side where we have problems and the suit is filled and ready to go,” he said. “So I’m better prepared for the next EVA campaign. I just want us to do it.”
He said, he pointed out, “none of our spacesuits are spring chickens. And so we will expect to see some hardware problems with repeated use. So again, it is one of those things that we are always, in every second, ready to stop. … or perform contingency procedures.”
As for the “discomfort” problem that Dominick reported before his previous spacewalk attempt, no details were provided.
“We’re still reviewing and trying to figure out all the details,” Dominick said.
