Four astronauts of SpaceX Crew-8 return to Earth after months of delays

After an eight-month stay at the International Space Station that was prolonged by Hurricane Milton’s effects and technical issues with Boeing’s Starliner space capsule, the four members of NASA’s SpaceX Crew 8 returned to Earth Friday morning. Just before 3:30 a.m., the crew—Russia’s Roscosmos space agency astronauts Alexander Grebenkin, Jeanette Epps, Michael Barratt, and Matthew Dominick of NASA—splashed down off the coast of Florida.

The crew has now spent 235 days in space since taking out from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on March 3, setting a new record for the length of time that SpaceX missions can stay in orbit. Following their recuperation, the Russian cosmonaut and the three NASA astronauts were taken to Ascension Sacred Heart Pensacola in Florida for assessment. The action was taken “out of an abundance of caution,” NASA said Friday, citing a medical condition that affected one crew member.

To respect the crew member’s medical privacy, the space agency did not identify them or disclose additional information about the medical problem. Three crew members were freed to return to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, while the other four were treated at Ascension. According to NASA, one crew member is still in stable condition at Ascension as a precaution. During recovery, all four crew members were observed leaving the Dragon spacecraft in a cheerful manner.