NASA Astronaut Still Hospitalized After Return To Earth

An astronaut who spent an unplanned extra two months on the International Space Station was hospitalized in Florida after returning to Earth, NASA said Friday.

The space explorer suffered an unspecified "medical issue" shortly after splashing down in the Gulf of Mexico off the Florida coast, and was in stable condition and being observed "as a precautionary measure," according to a NASA statement.

"To protect the crew member's medical privacy, specific details on the individual's condition or identity will not be shared," the space agency said.

Three NASA astronauts — Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt and Jeanette Epps — and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin spent nearly eight months in space after blasting off in a SpaceX rocket in March.

Their trip was extended by problems with Boeing's new Starliner capsule, which was sent back empty last month over safety concerns, and high winds and rough seas caused by Hurricane Milton.

The crew was flown to the Ascension Sacred Heart Pensacola hospital in Pensacola, Florida, after their SpaceX capsule was hauled out of the water early Friday morning.

"During routine medical assessments on the recovery ship, the additional evaluation of the crew members was requested out of an abundance of caution," NASA said.

The other three crew members were cleared by healthcare workers and flown to the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

The crew's replacements on the space station are Starliner test pilots Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, whose mission grew from eight days to eight months, and two astronauts launched into space four weeks ago by Elon's Musk's privately owned SpaceX.

They're all scheduled to return in February and the overcrowded space station is now back to its normal crew size of four Americans and three Russians, according to the Associated Press.