Nasa's Crew-8 finally lands but can’t sit comfortably. Here’s why.

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.

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.

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.”

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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.

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