Fri Nov 15 13:28:50 IST 2024: ## NASA Astronauts Remain Tight-Lipped About Medical Issue Following Space Station Mission
**CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.** – Three NASA astronauts who returned from a nearly eight-month mission on the International Space Station last month have refused to disclose details about a medical issue that led to one of them being hospitalized after their return.
Astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, and Jeanette Epps, who returned to Earth on October 25th after their extended mission, addressed the incident for the first time at a public news conference on Friday.
The astronauts, along with Russian cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin, were taken to a hospital in Pensacola, Florida, shortly after their SpaceX capsule landed in the Gulf of Mexico. One of the American astronauts was admitted for an unspecified “medical issue” and remained overnight.
NASA has cited medical privacy as the reason for not disclosing the identity of the hospitalized astronaut or the nature of the issue. Despite repeated questions from journalists at the news conference, the astronauts declined to comment, with Dr. Barratt, a specialist in space medicine, even refusing to describe the astronaut’s symptoms.
“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 and we’re still piecing things together on this,” said Dr. Barratt.
Epps highlighted the individual differences in how astronauts respond to space and the challenges of readapting to Earth’s gravity. Dominick noted the difficulties in adjusting to simple activities like sitting comfortably, and revealed that he had not used the treadmill during the mission as part of an experiment to assess equipment needs for a long trip to Mars.
The astronauts’ return was delayed due to ongoing issues with Boeing’s Starliner crew capsule and inclement weather, including Hurricane Milton. The two astronauts serving as test pilots for Starliner, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, will remain on the space station until February, returning to Earth with SpaceX.
First Piper 