Expedition-11 crew splashdowns safely
SpaceX’s Endeavour capsule has safely splashed down and been recovered off the coast of California, returning the four Expedition-11 astronauts several weeks early from ISS due to an as-yet undisclosed medical issue with one astronaut.
Crew-11 returned home about a month earlier than planned because of a medical concern teams are monitoring with one of the crew members, who remains stable. Due to medical privacy, it is not appropriate for NASA to share more details about the crew member. Prior to return, NASA previously coordinated for all four crew members to be transported to a local hospital for additional evaluation, taking advantage of medical resources on Earth to provide the best care possible.
Following the planned overnight hospital stay, the crew members will return to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston and undergo standard postflight reconditioning and evaluations.
This hospital visit for all four astronauts is simply a cover to hide which astronaut has the medical issue. At some point this information must be revealed, simply because it impacts how future space travel will be planned.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
SpaceX’s Endeavour capsule has safely splashed down and been recovered off the coast of California, returning the four Expedition-11 astronauts several weeks early from ISS due to an as-yet undisclosed medical issue with one astronaut.
Crew-11 returned home about a month earlier than planned because of a medical concern teams are monitoring with one of the crew members, who remains stable. Due to medical privacy, it is not appropriate for NASA to share more details about the crew member. Prior to return, NASA previously coordinated for all four crew members to be transported to a local hospital for additional evaluation, taking advantage of medical resources on Earth to provide the best care possible.
Following the planned overnight hospital stay, the crew members will return to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston and undergo standard postflight reconditioning and evaluations.
This hospital visit for all four astronauts is simply a cover to hide which astronaut has the medical issue. At some point this information must be revealed, simply because it impacts how future space travel will be planned.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
I keep thinking about the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). If the astronaut in question has something that is not directly related to, caused by their aerospace efforts (launch, weightlessness, etc) it may be protected under HIPAA.
Ronaldus Magnus: Just like your privacy concerning getting the Jab during Covid was protected, eh?
HIPAA was always and continues to be a burden and waste to everyone involved. All it does is create paperwork when you visit the doctor that increases his or her costs, for no benefit. And it often acts to keep relevant and important information away from family or friends when needed.
It would seem that this episode suggests that an even smaller “lifeboat” could be useful for various space stations. Probably a two person minimum that would allow the injured/sick and a pilot to return at any time without disrupting the remaining crew. Would have been handy with the Starliner fiasco as well. A very minimal vehicle probably flown up unmanned for just this type situation.
Alternately, just have more Dragons or Starliners available for the same purpose IF it makes financial and programmatic sense. I suspect that when commercial stations hit their stride, there will be constant ability to return portions of a crew while the rest continue to work. That work being the reason for the station in the first place. Ditto for vacation stations.
The crew-approved space fleet is nearly large enough to perhaps support orbital rescue. If someone like Axiom, for instance, wants a lifeboat capability without having to tie up a docking port, they might contract with a capsule provider to keep one on-station for a monthly fee. Stations may find it advantageous to complement orbits, so one rescue capsule might be available to, and the costs split among, multiple customers.
I just looked it up.
A CH 58 SuperStallion US navy helicopter should be able to lift a Dragon 2.
The CH58 is on every Navy carrier. All of them. Add in all the Navy bases around the world.
And that only if you want the Dragon back.
So if the Dragon 2 is to be used like an emergency life boat it should be able to get down on the ground within 24 hours.
Just aim for a navy carrier that is not in a storm. I bet most allied nations could assist if they needed to.
Calling it an emergency and then waiting more than a week. Its not an emergency.
To pzatchok
I am still fuming that even the new King Stallion has 3 tons less available than the 19-20 tons the MI-26 can loft. That or a similar chopper dragged a whole frozen mammoth—ice and all— into the air.
Those blades were U-shaped under the strain.
–> Pregnancy.