NASA gives health update on astronauts mysteriously hospitalized after space mission

NASA contiguous insisted stranded astronaut Sunita Williams is harmless and steadfast amid growing nationalist interest for her health.

But the abstraction bureau again refused to springiness immoderate details astir four astronauts who were mysteriously hospitalized late past period aft returning from a abstracted abstraction mission.

A doc raised concerns astir Williams this week aft a photograph showed her looking 'gaunt', suggesting she had mislaid a important magnitude of value aft spending much than 150 days stuck on the International Space Station.

But NASA holds steadfast that Williams and the remainder of the astronauts aboard the ISS are doing fine.

'All NASA astronauts aboard the International Space Station acquisition regular aesculapian evaluations, person dedicated formation surgeons monitoring them, and are successful bully health,' NASA spokesperson Jimi Russell told DailyMail.com.

Concern implicit Williams came little than 2 weeks aft the hospitalization of 4 NASA/SpaceX Crew-8 astronauts, who splashed down disconnected the coast of Florida connected October 25. The unit had spent 232 days aboard the ISS. 

One of them was hospitalized overnight owed to a 'medical issue', portion the different 3 were discharged that aforesaid time aft undergoing aesculapian evaluations. 

NASA refused to supply immoderate details astir wherefore the unit was hospitalized, which astronaut had to implicit an overnight stay, oregon whether the aesculapian issues were related to their instrumentality to Earth.

The bureau alternatively deferred DailyMail.com to a blog station from October 26.

The connection said that 1 of the astronauts stayed overnight at Ascension Sacred Heart Pensacola successful Florida, but was 'in bully wellness and volition resume mean post-flight reconditioning with different unit members' aft being discharged.

NASA's determination not to disclose who that astronaut was oregon uncover details astir his oregon her information was made 'to support the unit member's aesculapian privacy.'

While the bureau has repeatedly expressed assurance successful the wellbeing of its astronauts, studies person shown that  surviving successful abstraction takes a toll connected quality health.

This is particularly existent of semipermanent ISS missions, which typically past six months.

Space is simply a harsh situation that causes astronauts to suffer assemblage fat, musculus mass, bony density, and endure precocious doses of radiation.

This tin pb to a scope of wellness issues, including imaginativeness problems, kidney stones and adjacent causing astronauts to go much susceptible to infections connected the ISS.

Williams and her crewmate, Barry Wilmore, person been aboard the ISS for six months arsenic of today, and volition stay determination until February 2025 astatine the earliest.

By then, they volition beryllium capable to drawback a thrust backmost to Earth connected SpaceX's Crew-9 ngo Dragon Capsule. 

The photograph of Williams, taken connected September 24, shows her tucking into a pepperoni pizza and chips portion surrounded by condiments and different treats.

'Her cheeks look a spot sunken - and usually it happens erstwhile you've had benignant of full assemblage weight loss,' Dr Vinay Gupta, a pulmonologist successful Seattle, told DailyMail.com.

'I deliberation what I tin discern by her look and her cheeks being sunken successful is that [she] has astir apt been astatine a important [calorie] shortage for a while.'

Weight nonaccomplishment is not uncommon among astronauts during extended ISS missions. In fact, astir suffer astir 5 percent of their bodyweight during a 4 to six period enactment aboard the orbiting laboratory, according to the Lunar and Planetary Institute. 

Dr Gupta told DailyMail.com: 'What you're seeing determination successful that representation is idiosyncratic that I deliberation is experiencing the earthy stresses of surviving astatine a precise precocious altitude, adjacent successful a pressurized cabin, for extended periods.'

'Based connected what I'm astatine slightest seeing successful the photo, I don't deliberation she's rather astatine a... spot wherever I accidental her life's successful danger,' helium added.

'But I don't deliberation you tin look astatine that photograph and accidental she has benignant of steadfast assemblage weight.

As for Crew-9, which included NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, and Jeanette Epps, arsenic good arsenic Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin, it's imaginable that their wellness suffered during their ISS enactment arsenic well. 

The 4 astronauts spent 232 days - oregon astir 8 months - aboard the ISS. It's tenable to judge that the accent their bodies endured during that clip whitethorn person resulted successful the request for aesculapian attraction upon their instrumentality to Earth. 

Alternatively, immoderate person speculated that thing went awry during the crew's descent, contempt NASA's connection that the unit 'safely splashed down aboard their SpaceX Dragon spacecraft.' 

The information that each 4 astronauts received immoderate signifier of aesculapian attraction does suggest that the wellness issues were someway related to their instrumentality flight.