NASA Astronaut Who Lost $100,000 Bag In Space Opens Up About Experience

28.03.2024 - 04:53 / wccftech.com / Ramish Zafar / Space

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After returning from a grueling six month stay in microgravity, astronauts part of NASA's Crew-7 mission shared their experiences onboard the International Space Station (ISS) earlier today. The Crew-7 crew of four astronauts returned to Earth earlier this month, and the event saw NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Andreas Mogensen and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa all shared difficulties adjusting to life back on Earth due to slow adaptation to gravity.

Their mission was marked by multiple surprises, such as the delay of a resupply mission to the station and Moghbeli losing track of a tool bag during a six hour spacewalk.

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NASA Astronaut Describes Extreme Gravity During Return To Earth On SpaceX's Crew Dragon

The astronauts' media talk as they recover from the effects of spending extended durations in space revolved around their experiences on the station, inside SpaceX's vehicle and the recovery process. Crew Dragon is the only U.S. spacecraft rated and capable of taking astronauts to the ISS and space, as Boeing works on its Starliner ship for a maiden crewed test flight in May and NASA waits for the first operational rotation of Orion.

Some of the astronauts' favorite experiments that have taken place or will take place on ISS covered manufacturing science and biotechnology. Unlike Furukava and Moghbeli, whose experiments have been performed, ESA astronaut Mogensen was hopeful that the Crew-8 rotation currently on the ISS would be able to run a 3D printer in space for in-space manufacturing, particularly in the context of sustaining space stations through items manufactured on board.

Returning to Earth and re-acclimitization to the conditions of gravity has proven to be a slow process for the astronauts. All three faced difficulties orienting themselves, with Furukawa finding it hard to tie his shoes and Mogensen discovering that playing basketball is harder after returning from space.

All astronauts described the Crew Dragon's landing as smooth, and Moghbeli added that she had not anticipated the 'strength' of normal g-loads during re-entry. Mogensen described the reorientation to Earth's gravity by sharing that the human brain takes time to "re-insert that sensor into its suite of sensors."

The sensor is the vestibular system, and the astronaut explained that since the eyes are the only primary organs that enable him and others to maintain balance in space, it takes time for the body to