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In late October 2024, SpaceX Crew-8 completed NASA’s latest commercial crew rotation mission to the International Space Station with a splashdown near Pensacola. But rather than an easy transition back to normal life, three of the returning astronauts landed briefly in the hospital. Once discharged, they faced reporters and described the unexpected difficulties of reacclimating to Earth after 235 days in space.

Photographers at NASA capture the night sky Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024, on a beach near the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.Photo by NASA/Glenn Benson via KSC


Speaking at a November 8 press briefing, NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, and Jeanette Epps declined to share specifics regarding their hospital stay, citing “medical privacy.” Instead, they offered candid details about life on solid ground. Dominick, quoted by CNN, admitted, “I’m a first-time flyer, and fascinated by the readaptation. The big things you expect—being disoriented, being dizzy. But the little things like just sitting in a hard chair. My backside has not really sat in a hard thing for (235) days.” He recalled opting to lie on his lawn instead of continuing a family dinner, because “too uncomfortable” was how he described the chair.


"I’m a first-time flyer, and fascinated by the readaptation."
— Matthew Dominick

NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick, commander of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 mission, is suited up to participate in a Crew Equipment Interface Test (CEIT) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Friday, Jan. 12, 2024.Photo by SpaceX



“You’re going to space,” he joked, “it’s going to be hard to sit on a hard chair.” Meanwhile, Epps—who served as a mission specialist—acknowledged the surprising “weight and heaviness of things” on Earth, confessing that lying down is her go-to whenever possible. “Every day is better than the day before,” she added.


"Every day is better than the day before."
— Jeanette Epps

NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps, mission specialist of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 mission, is suited up to participate in a Crew Equipment Interface Test (CEIT) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Friday, Jan. 12, 2024.Photo by SpaceX



Noting the importance of regaining strength, Epps said, “You have to exercise every day, otherwise you don’t get those gains. You have to move regardless of how exhausted you feel.” She also thanked her supporters in Syracuse—her hometown—for an outpouring of encouragement, stating, “Life is different for me now just in the sense of how much I appreciate everything that Syracuse and my friends there have done for me.”

Giphy


At the beginning of the press event, Barratt politely asked reporters to avoid grilling them about the hospital stay. Even so, multiple questions centered on the trio’s medical detour. Addressing one query, Dominick clarified that discussing the issue isn’t off-limits because he’s “uncomfortable,” but rather due to personal privacy. Later, NASA explained that rushing the astronauts to medical care was done “out of an abundance of caution.” The agency also revealed that one crew member remained hospitalized overnight with a specific medical concern, though all have since resumed recovery.

- YouTubeyoutu.be

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A gay man in Vegas was approached by a 40-year-old stranger asking for advice on raising his son

A gay man in Vegas was approached by a 40-year-old stranger asking for advice on raising his son

Jack Remmington got a surprise he says he’ll never forget. While playing the slots in Las Vegas he and his friend were approached by a middle-aged man they had never met who wanted to know if they were gay. Although it was a relatively safe public space, you never know what might happen in a city fueled by alcohol, sex and gambling.

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Instead, the man who approached Remmington wanted to ask some perfectly wholesome advice about communicating with his young son whom he thinks is probably still in the closet. Remmington wrote about the interaction on his Twitter page and the breakdown has quickly gone viral for the best reasons. “Ok I just experienced the nicest exchange with a stranger and think it’ll help to share: I was playing on the Mariah Carey slots in Vegas (naturally) and a friendly circa-mid-40s ish guy sat down to play on the machine next to me,” Remmington wrote.

"I was sitting with @marcoalessifilm, both wearing pink (naturally) and after chatting a little to the guy about Vegas, he nervously asked if he could ask us a question. I knew where this was gonna go as it always does so did a bit of an inner eye roll but indulged him anyway."

"He then asked if we were together so we said no (we’re best friends and he has a fab bf) and he asked if we were gay, so we said yes. He then said he thinks his 13 year old son might be gay and wondered if he could ask us how best for him to navigate that."

"He lit up when talking about his son, and I nearly started crying at how much he clearly loved him. The guy wanted to know how to make his son feel most comfortable about himself whilst not being too overt and glaringly obvious in forcing a conversation about his sexuality."

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"This man is SO sweet. From rural Arkansas and said whilst things are so much better now, he still just wants the world to be totally equal for his son. Marco and I said he sounds like he’s doing all the right things and that making his son know he’s loved is the best he can do."

"We both gave a couple of anecdotes from personal experience, largely relating to condoning abstract things when you see them like normalising conversations around gay kisses on TV or calling our family conversations that might shame potential queerness."

"We also mentioned not accidentally policing things so as to shame him - for instance, often out of a sense of protection and love parents can frown on a child’s behaviour or outfit because they’re worried for their safety when on a night out etc."

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"But we stressed that if this was their feeling it’s important to vocalise this exactly, rather than leaving the child ruminating over the parent’s intentions and second guessing why they said what they said."

"So in terms of advice to friends or relatives of a potentially queer person, what would fellow queers advise is the best way to make it known they have their love and support without causing an uncomfortable conversation that might force someone to come out before they’re ready?"

You can read the whole thing on Remmington’s Twitter thread, here.

While it’s understandable that he and his friend were apprehensive about being approached, the exchange goes a long way toward showing we should never make too many hard assumptions about people based on their appearances alone.

Even in 2024, not every parent, child or friend has a safe space to educate themselves on LGBTQ issues.

Obviously, it would be ideal if this random guy had a friend, family member, or educator who could give him the advice he was looking for but we have to salute Remmington for being so generous and kind in his response. There’s so much we can learn from each other when we take the time to ask questions -- and listen.

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“My first impression was that he seemed nice as he chatted which is more than what tends to happen with people you sit next to in Vegas at the slots. That said, I didn’t expect it to take this turn at all,” Remmington said in an interview with Bored Panda.

“The relationship between him and his son has a 100% future – he was a wonderful and caring man, despite what he said was quite a difficult town to grow up in if you’re at all different. I wish all fathers could be like him.”

This article was originally published five years ago.

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