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After a picture of two astronauts stuck in space surfaced, health concerns were raised.
Astronauts Sunita ‘Suni’ Williams, 59, and Barry ‘Butch’ Wilmore, 61, are suddenly marooned aboard the International Space Station (ISS) more than 150 days into what was supposed to be a short eight-day mission.
Their June 5 launch aboard Boeing’s Starliner was derailed by serious technical problems, including as helium leaks and rocket failures.
Given the difficult decision to either wait for a rescue mission or return in a crippled spacecraft, they naturally chose to wait for SpaceX’s Dragon capsule.
Public anxiety has been aroused by recently revealed images of the astronauts, particularly with reference to Williams’ health, whose noticeably altered look sparked worries about the consequences of extended space travel.
Concerned social media users expressed their concerns as soon as the photograph went viral on X.
One user wrote on Twitter, “Suni Williams’ condition doesn’t look good,”
Another person said, “It looks like those two American astronauts stuck in the ISS are not in good health, especially Suni Williams.”
It looks like those two American astronauts stuck in the ISS are not in good health, especially Suni Williams.🤔 pic.twitter.com/0bO64DUXeu
— ShanghaiPanda (@thinking_panda) November 1, 2024
“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 pressurised cabin, for extended periods of time,” Dr. Vinay Gupta said in a Daily Mail interview in response to the images.
“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.”
As Dr. Gupta reassures, “I don’t think she’s quite at a… place where I say her life’s in danger,” the prognosis isn’t dire despite the seeming toll. However, I don’t think you can argue that she has a healthy body weight based on that picture.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson stated earlier this year that they will return in February 2025 as part of the SpaceX Crew-9 mission.
Underscoring Boeing’s resolve to fix the spacecraft’s problems, Nelson said, “NASA has decided that Butch and Suni will return with [SpaceX’s] Crew-9 next February, and that Starliner will return uncrewed.”
— NASA (@NASA) August 24, 2024
“There have been numerous instances in the past where there have been no other options,” he concluded. We were really lucky to have the Space Station and the choice to either stay or return in a different manner.
It is anticipated that the astronauts will return in the new year.
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