NASA astronaut with undisclosed medical issue released from hospital

A NASA astronaut who was briefly hospitalised on returning from space has been released, the American space agency has said.

NASA’s Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, and Jeanette Epps, and Russia’s Alexander Grebenkin were flown to the hospital for additional medical checks on Friday after parachuting into the Gulf of Mexico off the Florida coast aboard a SpaceX capsule.

Three were released and returned to Houston.

A NASA astronaut – who was not identified – was kept for observation for an unspecified medical issue.

Citing patient privacy, the space agency declined to identify the astronaut or release details about their condition – other than to say the astronaut is in “good health” and would “resume normal post-flight reconditioning with other crew members”.

It can take days or even weeks for astronauts to readjust to gravity after living in weightlessness for several months.

The crew arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) in March and should have been back on Earth two months ago.

But their homecoming was stalled by problems with Boeing’s new Starliner astronaut capsule, which came back empty in September because of safety concerns.

Then Hurricane Milton interfered, followed by another two weeks of high wind and rough seas.

The space station is now back to its normal crew size of seven – four Americans and three Russians – after months of overflow.