Featured Image Credit: NASA
Topics: Space, Technology, NASA, International Space Station
Niamh Shackleton
Topics: Space, Technology, NASA, International Space Station
An astronaut who has been trapped in space for several months has revealed the toll it's taken on her body.
Sunita 'Suni' Williams and her crew mate, Barry 'Butch' Wilmore, set off from Earth in June 2024 and were only supposed to spend eight days in space.
But their mission has since been drastically prolonged after technical issues with their Boeing capsule meant that they could not return home as planned.
The capsule has since returned to Earth without them in tow.
Advert
Instead, Williams and Wilmore have taken up residence at the International Space Station (ISS) and are expected to finally return home sometime next month.
Since they've been there for so long, Williams says she's forgotten how to do things like walking and sitting down.
Speaking on a video call with students at Needham High School in Massachusetts earlier this week, the 59-year-old astronaut said, as per Mail Online: "I've been up here long enough, right now I've been trying to remember what it's like to walk. I haven't walked. I haven't sat down. I haven't laid down."
Williams and Wilmore have seldom left the ISS since moving in there several months ago, but recently embarked on a spacewalk together to fix an antenna.
The pair floated out to remove a broken antenna and wipe the station’s exterior for evidence of any microbes that might still be alive after launching from Earth and escaping through vents.
While she's been up in space, people have expressed concerns about Williams' health after seeing photographs of her, as well as Wilmore.
It's said the pair have been in a 'significant calorie deficit' since traveling to space.
Speaking on Williams' condition, Dr Vinay Gupta said of the photos late last year: "What you're seeing there in that picture is somebody that I think is experiencing the natural stresses of living at a very high altitude, even in a pressurized cabin, for extended periods."
"Her cheeks appear a bit sunken - and usually it happens when you've had sort of total body weight loss," he continued.
"I think what I can discern by her face and her cheeks being sunken in is that [she] has probably been at a significant [calorie] deficit for a while."
NASA has previously addressed this and told LADbible Group: "All NASA astronauts aboard the International Space Station undergo routine medical evaluations, have dedicated flight surgeons monitoring them, and are in good health."
.jpg)
In a recent update, NASA said that it was continuing to work with SpaceX to ensure Williams and Wilmore's safe return home.
The space agency tweeted on January 29: "NASA and SpaceX are expeditiously working to safely return the agency’s SpaceX Crew-9 astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore as soon as practical, while also preparing for the launch of Crew-10 to complete a handover between expeditions."