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Could it be an initially-unnoticed chemical leak in the Crew Dragon? That could explain how it hospitalized four astronauts at once, and also why they're unchar

Could it be an initially-unnoticed chemical leak in the Crew Dragon? That could explain how it hospitalized four astronauts at once, and also why they're uncharacteristically afraid of media coverage. They were evasive in a similar way when Starliner was first having issues—they're scared of the politics, or of the lawyers. edit to add: These spacecraft all use very toxic fuels, and this one has had issues with fuel leaks before [0]. I'm not sure how or if those could affect the crew. Maybe if there was contamination on an exterior surface, they could have been exposed on landing? IIRC it is or used to be standard procedure to take air samples before opening crewed spacecraft, for this reason. edited again to add: I found it! It Apollo-Soyuz in 1975—the entire Apollo crew were poisoned by fuel when they opened the spacecraft, and were hospitalized with chemical pneumonitis [1,2]. [0] https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/06/nasa-delays-cargo-dragon-flight-due-to-a-propellant-issue/ https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/06/nasa-delays-cargo-dr... ("NASA and SpaceX stand down on Dragon launch to study hydrazine issue") [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo–Soyuz#Re-entry_and_aftermath https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo–Soyuz#Re-entry_and_afte... [2] https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/19770023791 https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/19770023791 ("The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project: Medical report") - (wiki) "The only serious problem was during reentry and splashdown of the Apollo craft, during which the crew were accidentally exposed to toxic monomethylhydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide fumes, caused by unignited reaction control system (RCS) hypergolic propellants venting from the spacecraft and reentering a cabin air intake. The RCS was inadvertently left on during descent, and the toxic fumes were sucked into the spacecraft as it drew in outside air. Brand briefly lost consciousness, while Stafford retrieved emergency oxygen masks, put one on Brand, and gave one to Slayton. The three astronauts were hospitalized for two weeks in Honolulu, Hawaii.[22] Brand took responsibility for the mishap; because of high noise levels in the cabin during reentry, he believed he was unable to hear Stafford call off one item of the reentry checklist, the closure of two switches which would have automatically shut off the RCS and begun drogue parachute deployment. These procedures were manually performed later than usual, allowing the ingestion of the propellant fumes through the ventilation system.[23]"

jp_nc 2y ago
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- adastra22 2y ago
  They’re still figuring out what happened. When they know, we’ll know. NASA does not have authority to unilaterally release medical information of its astronauts, so there’s nothing to say until the problem is identified.
  - perihelions 2y ago
    - "NASA does not have authority to unilaterally release medical information of its astronauts" Just to clarify—and I'm not denying her right to choose to do that—the person quoted in the article as citing "medical privacy" is one of the astronauts who was hospitalized.
    - tiahura 2y ago
      You’re honestly telling me, an astronaut who’s been on nasa tv talking about bodily functions in space with school kids for 6 months, suddenly clams up and doesn’t want anyone to know they got hurt when the SpaceX seatbelt failed?
      - sandworm101 2y ago
        Yes, especially when the possible injury may mean the end of thier career as a flying astronaut, which could be an issue here.
  - tiahura 2y ago
    Where does he say they don’t know what happened? He said they’re piecing things together, i.e. they’re still working on their story.
    - adastra22 2y ago
      That's not what those words mean.
WalterBright 2y ago
If toxic fumes were the problem, they could just put on their helmets. Their helmets should be at hand just for such a problem.
- slau 2y ago
  I believe the issue GP brings up is that merely inhaling a few breaths of this stuff is enough to cause damage. The crew may not have known beforehand that there was a leak or an issue.
  - WalterBright 2y ago
    > a few breaths I've sometimes gotten a whiff of a toxic fume, and my instant reaction is to hold my breath and leave the area. Not inhale a few breaths. I'm sure the astronauts are fit enough they could hold their breath long enough to get the helmet on. After all, I expect they probably have a lot of training in getting the helmet on fast. There are many emergencies that would require this, such as rapid decompression, fire, smoke, etc. I don't know if the astronauts do this or not, but if I was reentering, I'd put the helmet on anyway. It's only for a few minutes.
    - AstralStorm 2y ago
      If it's excess methane, you won't sense it. This is why municipal gas has a smell agent added. The same cannot be done for space fuel. If it's hydrazine, it is about as smelly as gasoline but ammonia, I think, but the toxic dose is below the smell threshold. So no, you do not get to generalize here.
      - WalterBright 2y ago
        Then install a methane gas detector which a siren. So yeah, I do get to generalize.
mmooss 2y ago
Is there any evidence of that? Maybe it landed hard, maybe their launch hurt them and they couldn't get proper medical attention until they landed, maybe they were somehow unprepared for the longer stay in orbit. Maybe one of them barfed on the way down ... Science tells us there is no value in making up possiblities, but that we must start from observation.
NoahKAndrews 2y ago
Only one astronaut had a medical issue, the others were taken to the hospital just in case: https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/10/astronaut-hospitalized-after-returning-from-235-day-space-mission/ https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/10/astronaut-hospitalized...
- perihelions 2y ago
  I respectfully disagree. If you are taken to a hospital for medical evaluation, speakers would normally call that a medical issue, in plain English. None of this was routine or normal precaution—a point the article you linked emphasizes: - "Normally, once medical personnel complete their preliminary assessment, crews are flown to shore on a helicopter, then board a NASA airplane for the flight back to Houston. Instead, the Crew-8 astronauts were taken to the hospital Friday morning."
  - meowster 2y ago
    The denotation is correct, but the connotation is wrong. Most people go by connotations, so I disagree with your statement that "speakers would normally call..."
  - NoahKAndrews 2y ago
    I'm saying that one person had a genuine medical issue, and the others appear to have not.

jp_nc 2y ago

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adastra22 2y ago
They’re still figuring out what happened. When they know, we’ll know. NASA does not have authority to unilaterally release medical information of its astronauts, so there’s nothing to say until the problem is identified.
- perihelions 2y ago
  - "NASA does not have authority to unilaterally release medical information of its astronauts" Just to clarify—and I'm not denying her right to choose to do that—the person quoted in the article as citing "medical privacy" is one of the astronauts who was hospitalized.
  - tiahura 2y ago
    You’re honestly telling me, an astronaut who’s been on nasa tv talking about bodily functions in space with school kids for 6 months, suddenly clams up and doesn’t want anyone to know they got hurt when the SpaceX seatbelt failed?
    - sandworm101 2y ago
      Yes, especially when the possible injury may mean the end of thier career as a flying astronaut, which could be an issue here.
- tiahura 2y ago
  Where does he say they don’t know what happened? He said they’re piecing things together, i.e. they’re still working on their story.
  - adastra22 2y ago
    That's not what those words mean.

WalterBright 2y ago

If toxic fumes were the problem, they could just put on their helmets. Their helmets should be at hand just for such a problem.

slau 2y ago
I believe the issue GP brings up is that merely inhaling a few breaths of this stuff is enough to cause damage. The crew may not have known beforehand that there was a leak or an issue.
- WalterBright 2y ago
  > a few breaths I've sometimes gotten a whiff of a toxic fume, and my instant reaction is to hold my breath and leave the area. Not inhale a few breaths. I'm sure the astronauts are fit enough they could hold their breath long enough to get the helmet on. After all, I expect they probably have a lot of training in getting the helmet on fast. There are many emergencies that would require this, such as rapid decompression, fire, smoke, etc. I don't know if the astronauts do this or not, but if I was reentering, I'd put the helmet on anyway. It's only for a few minutes.
  - AstralStorm 2y ago
    If it's excess methane, you won't sense it. This is why municipal gas has a smell agent added. The same cannot be done for space fuel. If it's hydrazine, it is about as smelly as gasoline but ammonia, I think, but the toxic dose is below the smell threshold. So no, you do not get to generalize here.
    - WalterBright 2y ago
      Then install a methane gas detector which a siren. So yeah, I do get to generalize.

mmooss 2y ago

Is there any evidence of that? Maybe it landed hard, maybe their launch hurt them and they couldn't get proper medical attention until they landed, maybe they were somehow unprepared for the longer stay in orbit. Maybe one of them barfed on the way down ... Science tells us there is no value in making up possiblities, but that we must start from observation.

NoahKAndrews 2y ago

Only one astronaut had a medical issue, the others were taken to the hospital just in case: https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/10/astronaut-hospitalized-after-returning-from-235-day-space-mission/ https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/10/astronaut-hospitalized...

perihelions 2y ago
I respectfully disagree. If you are taken to a hospital for medical evaluation, speakers would normally call that a medical issue, in plain English. None of this was routine or normal precaution—a point the article you linked emphasizes: - "Normally, once medical personnel complete their preliminary assessment, crews are flown to shore on a helicopter, then board a NASA airplane for the flight back to Houston. Instead, the Crew-8 astronauts were taken to the hospital Friday morning."
- meowster 2y ago
  The denotation is correct, but the connotation is wrong. Most people go by connotations, so I disagree with your statement that "speakers would normally call..."
- NoahKAndrews 2y ago
  I'm saying that one person had a genuine medical issue, and the others appear to have not.