From zero gravity to hard reality: NASA astronauts face new challenges on Earth
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The vast expanse of space has long captivated our imaginations, but for astronauts Sunita Williams, Butch Wilmore, Nick Hague, and Aleksandr Gorbunov, the dream of space travel came with a harsh reality check.
After an extended nine-month mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS), these spacefarers have returned to Earth, their bodies bearing the toll of long-duration spaceflight.
This incident not only highlights the physical challenges of space travel but also serves as a reminder of the hidden dangers of prolonged weightlessness that could affect future space tourists and explorers.
NASA's long-stranded astronauts have finally made it back to Earth after enduring nine challenging months aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
Sunita Williams and Butch Willmore safely splashed down off the Tallahassee, Florida coast on Tuesday at 5:57 PM ET.
They returned alongside Crew-9 members, including NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov.
A recovery ship retrieved the capsule from the water and hoisted it onto the deck, where the four astronauts slowly emerged from the hatch, inhaling fresh air for the first time in months.
As Earth's gravity took its toll, the recovery crew assisted the astronauts onto stretchers, supporting their weakened bodies after their extended mission.
Despite the physical strain, Williams and Wilmore managed smiles and a double thumbs-up, acknowledging the cameras before being wheeled away for medical evaluations alongside their fellow crew members.
After this initial health assessment, they will be transported to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, where they will undergo several more days of routine medical checks.
Also read: Stranded in orbit: How spacecraft issues left NASA astronauts adrift—their harrowing journey back to Earth
If NASA's flight surgeons give them the all-clear, they will finally reunite with their families, who have been waiting for them for 286 days.
Following the successful splashdown, NASA made a stunning revelation regarding former President Trump’s role in Williams and Wilmore's return mission.
“We are thrilled to have Suni, Butch, Nick, and Aleksandr home after their months-long mission conducting vital science, technology demonstrations, and maintenance aboard the International Space Station,” said NASA acting Administrator Janet Petro in an official statement.
She went on to highlight the role of the former president in expediting their return, stating, “Per President Trump’s direction, NASA and SpaceX worked diligently to pull the schedule a month earlier.
“This international crew and our teams on the ground embraced the Trump Administration’s challenge of an updated, and somewhat unique, mission plan, to bring our crew home.
“Through preparation, ingenuity, and dedication, we achieve great things together for the benefit of humanity, pushing the boundaries of what is possible from low Earth orbit to the Moon and Mars.”
Originally, Williams and Wilmore were set to spend just eight days aboard the ISS after launching on June 5 aboard Boeing’s Starliner, which was making its first crewed test flight.
Although the astronauts successfully docked at the space station, their journey was fraught with technical failures.
Five out of Starliner’s 28 thrusters malfunctioned, compounding helium leaks and additional thruster issues that had already emerged before and during the launch.
By June 18, it became evident that Starliner would not be returning to Earth as scheduled. NASA extended Williams and Wilmore’s stay, initially expecting a short delay to allow Boeing engineers to troubleshoot the spacecraft’s malfunctions remotely.
However, persistent technical problems continued to surface, transforming what was supposed to be a brief extension into a months-long delay before the astronauts could finally return home.
In August, NASA officials made the decision to bring Starliner back to Earth without its crew, citing concerns that it would be too risky for Williams and Wilmore to travel inside the troubled spacecraft.
Instead, the astronauts were reassigned to return on SpaceX’s Crew-9 Dragon capsule, which arrived at the ISS later that month carrying Nick Hague and Aleksandr Gorbunov.
The Crew-9 capsule had originally been scheduled to return in February 2025, meaning this shift extended Williams and Wilmore’s mission to at least eight months in space.
As their time aboard the ISS stretched on, health experts raised concerns about the potential impact of prolonged spaceflight on their physical well-being.
Extended stays in microgravity expose astronauts to significant physiological stress, including muscle and bone loss, increased radiation exposure, and the psychological effects of isolation.
By November, medical professionals had begun to express concerns about Williams' condition. In an interview with DailyMail.com, doctors noted that she appeared “gaunt” in a September photo and suggested that she had likely lost weight during her extended mission.
That same month, an unnamed NASA source told the New York Post that the agency was working to “stabilize the weight loss and hopefully reverse it.”
The insider, described as someone "directly involved with the mission," claimed that Williams had struggled to maintain the high-calorie diet required for astronauts living in space.
“The pounds have melted off her, and she’s now skin and bones. So it’s a priority to help her stabilize the weight loss and hopefully reverse it,” the source stated.
However, later that month, Williams addressed the speculation in a live video shared by NASA, pushing back against the weight loss “rumors” and insisting that she had actually gained muscle rather than losing weight.
Just a day after Williams’ comments, an unnamed NASA employee told the New York Post that the agency was also closely monitoring Wilmore’s weight loss throughout the mission.
The NASA source noted that while Wilmore’s weight loss was not as visibly extreme as Williams' "gaunt" appearance, doctors were still taking precautionary measures to ensure that his condition did not reach a critical point.
By mid-December, NASA confirmed that both astronauts would be remaining on the ISS even longer, with a targeted return in March 2025.
This extended stay was necessary because the Starliner and Crew-9 astronauts could not leave the space station until SpaceX’s Crew-10 mission arrived with a new team of four astronauts to replace them.
Initially set for a February launch, Crew-10’s departure was delayed due to technical issues with the brand-new Dragon spacecraft SpaceX planned to use.
On December 17, NASA announced that Crew-10’s launch would be postponed to give SpaceX additional time to resolve the spacecraft's issues.
As a result, the Starliner and Crew-9 astronauts’ return was also delayed, pushing their expected return to late March or early April.
However, in late January, the Starliner delays took center stage in politics when former President Donald Trump declared that he had asked SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, the new head of his DOGE agency, to "go get" Williams and Wilmore.
Trump accused the Biden administration of ‘virtually abandoning’ the astronauts, a claim that Musk echoed in a post on social media.
Just a few weeks later, on February 11, NASA announced that Williams and Wilmore would be coming home slightly earlier than expected. It remains unclear whether this decision was influenced by Trump and Musk's public statements.
NASA ultimately decided to launch the Crew-10 mission using a different, ready-to-fly spacecraft, which allowed Williams, Wilmore, and the Crew-9 astronauts to return about two weeks sooner than planned.
The Crew-10 mission successfully launched from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on March 14 and docked with the ISS 28 hours later.
Source: NBC News / Youtube.
Before departing, the Starliner and Crew-9 astronauts remained on the ISS for several days, ensuring that the new arrivals were fully briefed on space station operations.
Then, in the early hours of Tuesday morning, they boarded the Crew-9 Dragon capsule, undocked from the ISS, and began their journey back to Earth.
Now, after an unexpectedly prolonged and politically charged mission, the astronauts have finally returned home, bringing this highly controversial saga to a close.
Read next: She who reaches the stars: Find out which celebrities will join the first all-female spaceflight since 1963!
Have you ever considered the impact of space travel on the human body? Do you think the risks are worth the reward? Share your thoughts and join the discussion below!
After an extended nine-month mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS), these spacefarers have returned to Earth, their bodies bearing the toll of long-duration spaceflight.
This incident not only highlights the physical challenges of space travel but also serves as a reminder of the hidden dangers of prolonged weightlessness that could affect future space tourists and explorers.
NASA's long-stranded astronauts have finally made it back to Earth after enduring nine challenging months aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
Sunita Williams and Butch Willmore safely splashed down off the Tallahassee, Florida coast on Tuesday at 5:57 PM ET.
They returned alongside Crew-9 members, including NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov.
NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Willmore, alongside Crew-9 astronauts Nick Hague and Aleksandr Gorbunov, have returned to Earth. Image source: VideoFromSpace / Youtube.
A recovery ship retrieved the capsule from the water and hoisted it onto the deck, where the four astronauts slowly emerged from the hatch, inhaling fresh air for the first time in months.
As Earth's gravity took its toll, the recovery crew assisted the astronauts onto stretchers, supporting their weakened bodies after their extended mission.
Despite the physical strain, Williams and Wilmore managed smiles and a double thumbs-up, acknowledging the cameras before being wheeled away for medical evaluations alongside their fellow crew members.
After this initial health assessment, they will be transported to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, where they will undergo several more days of routine medical checks.
Also read: Stranded in orbit: How spacecraft issues left NASA astronauts adrift—their harrowing journey back to Earth
If NASA's flight surgeons give them the all-clear, they will finally reunite with their families, who have been waiting for them for 286 days.
Following the successful splashdown, NASA made a stunning revelation regarding former President Trump’s role in Williams and Wilmore's return mission.
“We are thrilled to have Suni, Butch, Nick, and Aleksandr home after their months-long mission conducting vital science, technology demonstrations, and maintenance aboard the International Space Station,” said NASA acting Administrator Janet Petro in an official statement.
She went on to highlight the role of the former president in expediting their return, stating, “Per President Trump’s direction, NASA and SpaceX worked diligently to pull the schedule a month earlier.
The astronauts faced potentially serious health concerns during their prolonged stay in space, with experts particularly worried about weight loss and the physical toll of low gravity. Image source: VideoFromSpace / Youtube.
“This international crew and our teams on the ground embraced the Trump Administration’s challenge of an updated, and somewhat unique, mission plan, to bring our crew home.
“Through preparation, ingenuity, and dedication, we achieve great things together for the benefit of humanity, pushing the boundaries of what is possible from low Earth orbit to the Moon and Mars.”
Originally, Williams and Wilmore were set to spend just eight days aboard the ISS after launching on June 5 aboard Boeing’s Starliner, which was making its first crewed test flight.
Although the astronauts successfully docked at the space station, their journey was fraught with technical failures.
Five out of Starliner’s 28 thrusters malfunctioned, compounding helium leaks and additional thruster issues that had already emerged before and during the launch.
By June 18, it became evident that Starliner would not be returning to Earth as scheduled. NASA extended Williams and Wilmore’s stay, initially expecting a short delay to allow Boeing engineers to troubleshoot the spacecraft’s malfunctions remotely.
However, persistent technical problems continued to surface, transforming what was supposed to be a brief extension into a months-long delay before the astronauts could finally return home.
In August, NASA officials made the decision to bring Starliner back to Earth without its crew, citing concerns that it would be too risky for Williams and Wilmore to travel inside the troubled spacecraft.
Upon splashdown off the coast of Florida, the astronauts were stretchered from the rescue ship and taken for immediate medical checks, reflecting the physical strain of their long-duration mission. Image source: VideoFromSpace / Youtube.
Instead, the astronauts were reassigned to return on SpaceX’s Crew-9 Dragon capsule, which arrived at the ISS later that month carrying Nick Hague and Aleksandr Gorbunov.
The Crew-9 capsule had originally been scheduled to return in February 2025, meaning this shift extended Williams and Wilmore’s mission to at least eight months in space.
As their time aboard the ISS stretched on, health experts raised concerns about the potential impact of prolonged spaceflight on their physical well-being.
Extended stays in microgravity expose astronauts to significant physiological stress, including muscle and bone loss, increased radiation exposure, and the psychological effects of isolation.
By November, medical professionals had begun to express concerns about Williams' condition. In an interview with DailyMail.com, doctors noted that she appeared “gaunt” in a September photo and suggested that she had likely lost weight during her extended mission.
That same month, an unnamed NASA source told the New York Post that the agency was working to “stabilize the weight loss and hopefully reverse it.”
The insider, described as someone "directly involved with the mission," claimed that Williams had struggled to maintain the high-calorie diet required for astronauts living in space.
“The pounds have melted off her, and she’s now skin and bones. So it’s a priority to help her stabilize the weight loss and hopefully reverse it,” the source stated.
President Donald Trump and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk became involved in discussion and comments regarding the extended mission. Image source: VideoFromSpace / Youtube.
However, later that month, Williams addressed the speculation in a live video shared by NASA, pushing back against the weight loss “rumors” and insisting that she had actually gained muscle rather than losing weight.
Just a day after Williams’ comments, an unnamed NASA employee told the New York Post that the agency was also closely monitoring Wilmore’s weight loss throughout the mission.
The NASA source noted that while Wilmore’s weight loss was not as visibly extreme as Williams' "gaunt" appearance, doctors were still taking precautionary measures to ensure that his condition did not reach a critical point.
By mid-December, NASA confirmed that both astronauts would be remaining on the ISS even longer, with a targeted return in March 2025.
This extended stay was necessary because the Starliner and Crew-9 astronauts could not leave the space station until SpaceX’s Crew-10 mission arrived with a new team of four astronauts to replace them.
Initially set for a February launch, Crew-10’s departure was delayed due to technical issues with the brand-new Dragon spacecraft SpaceX planned to use.
On December 17, NASA announced that Crew-10’s launch would be postponed to give SpaceX additional time to resolve the spacecraft's issues.
As a result, the Starliner and Crew-9 astronauts’ return was also delayed, pushing their expected return to late March or early April.
However, in late January, the Starliner delays took center stage in politics when former President Donald Trump declared that he had asked SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, the new head of his DOGE agency, to "go get" Williams and Wilmore.
Crew-9 astronauts inside the spacecraft. Image source: Fox News / Youtube.
Trump accused the Biden administration of ‘virtually abandoning’ the astronauts, a claim that Musk echoed in a post on social media.
Just a few weeks later, on February 11, NASA announced that Williams and Wilmore would be coming home slightly earlier than expected. It remains unclear whether this decision was influenced by Trump and Musk's public statements.
NASA ultimately decided to launch the Crew-10 mission using a different, ready-to-fly spacecraft, which allowed Williams, Wilmore, and the Crew-9 astronauts to return about two weeks sooner than planned.
The Crew-10 mission successfully launched from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on March 14 and docked with the ISS 28 hours later.
Source: NBC News / Youtube.
Before departing, the Starliner and Crew-9 astronauts remained on the ISS for several days, ensuring that the new arrivals were fully briefed on space station operations.
Then, in the early hours of Tuesday morning, they boarded the Crew-9 Dragon capsule, undocked from the ISS, and began their journey back to Earth.
Now, after an unexpectedly prolonged and politically charged mission, the astronauts have finally returned home, bringing this highly controversial saga to a close.
Read next: She who reaches the stars: Find out which celebrities will join the first all-female spaceflight since 1963!
Have you ever considered the impact of space travel on the human body? Do you think the risks are worth the reward? Share your thoughts and join the discussion below!
