During their first public appearance since returning to Earth, the four astronauts refused Wednesday to say which one of them had been ailing or why.<\/b>
\nThe astronauts evacuated last week from the International Space Station say a portable ultrasound machine came in \u201csuper handy\u201d during the medical crisis.
During their first public appearance since returning to Earth, the four astronauts refused Wednesday to say which one of them needed medical attention and for what reason. It was NASA\u2019s first medical evacuation in 65 years of human spaceflight.
NASA\u2019s Mike Fincke said the crew used the onboard ultrasound machine once the medical problem arose Jan. 7, the day before a planned spacewalk that was abruptly canceled. The astronauts had already used the device a lot for routine checks of their body changes while living in weightlessness, \u201cso when we had this emergency, the ultrasound machine came in super handy.\u201d
It was so useful that Fincke said there should be one on all future spaceflights. \u201cIt really helped,\u201d he said.
\u201cOf course, we didn\u2019t have other big machines that we have here on planet Earth,\u201d he added. \u201cWe do try to make sure that everybody before we fly are really, really not prone to surprises. But sometimes things happen and surprises happen, and the team was ready \u2026 preparation was super important.\u201d
The space station is set up as well as it can be for medical emergencies, said NASA\u2019s Zena Cardman, who commanded the crew\u2019s early return flight with SpaceX. She said NASA \u201cmade all the right decisions\u201d in canceling the spacewalk, which would have been her first, and prioritizing the crew\u2019s well-being.
Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui said he was surprised how well all the preflight training paid off in dealing with the health concerns.
\u201cWe can handle any kind of difficult situation,\u201d Yui said. \u201cThis is actually very, very good experience for the future of human spaceflight.\u201d
Joining them on what turned out to be a 5 1\/2-month mission \u2014 more than a month shorter than planned \u2014 was Russia\u2019s Oleg Platonov. They launched last August from Florida and splashed down in the Pacific off the San Diego coast last week.
Welcoming them back to Houston were their replacements, who aren\u2019t due to launch until mid-February. NASA and SpaceX are working to move up the flight.
\u201cWe were hoping to give them hugs in space, but we gave them hugs on Earth,\u201d Fincke said.<\/p>\n