NASA astronauts on readjusting to life on Earth: ‘It’s hard to sit’

Three of the astronauts who were unexpectedly hospitalized after returning from the International Space Station in late October discussed the SpaceX Crew-8 mission during a NASA newsconference on Friday. The trio revealed some anecdotes about the trials of readjusting to life on Earth after spending more than 230 days in space.

The astronauts remained tight-lipped about the nature of the medical issue that had left an as-yet-undisclosed crew member hospitalized overnight. But they did discuss some of the symptoms they have experienced during the readjustment to life under the effects of gravity.

"I’m a first-time flyer, and fascinated by the readaptation," said NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick, kraken7jmgt7yhhe2c4iyilthnhcugfylcztsdhh7otrr6jgdw667pqd who served as mission commander. "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."

Dominick added that he was recently sitting outside with his family eating dinner and was forced to lie down on a towel in the yard to remain part of the conversation because his seat proved too uncomfortable.

"That wasn’t in a book I read," Dominick joked. "Hey, you’re going to space. It’s going to be hard to sit on a hard chair."