Astronaut Sunita Williams along with her fellow astronaut Butch Willmore have been at the International Space Station (ISS) since June 2024. The pair had launched aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft on June 5 for its first crewed flight, arriving at the space station on June 6. What was supposed to be an eight-day-long mission turned into months of wait after Boeing’s faulty Starliner spacecraft left the duo stuck on the ISS. Williams along with Willmore have now spent over 150 days at ISS.

While concerns have been raised repeatedly about the health of the astronauts, recent photos have stirred the discussion. Williams appears gaunt, which experts say might mean she is suffering from nutritional deficiencies and that the extended stay is taking a toll on her body — a phenomenon that’s expected for astronauts who are in space for a long mission.

A photo of a NASA astronaut putting together a pepperoni pizza is circulating on social media, and it appears Williams has lost considerable weight.

 

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

Dr Vinay Gupta, a pulmonologist and veteran in Seattle, US, told the Daily Mail that what people are seeing in that picture is someone who seems to be dealing with the natural stresses of living at a high altitude, which includes living in a pressurized cabin, for long periods. The doctor said that her cheeks look a bit sunken, which typically occurs with overall body weight loss.

Sunita Williams Stuck In Space: Expert’s Take On Possible Health Impacts

Dr Kuldeep Kumar Grover, Head of Critical & Pulmonology, CK Birla Hospital, Gurugram, shares with Zee News, “Stays in space for more than a certain length of time can negatively impact health. Other effects include long periods under micro-gravity such as muscle atrophy and bone density loss, as well as disruption in cardiovascular status.” 

The doctor further says that fluid shifts increase intracranial pressure, which poses some risk to vision. “Other potential risks also include circadian rhythm disruption due to the absence of the normal day-night cycle, which causes sleep problems and negatively affects the mental state of the astronaut. These effects mean that precautionary measures and health monitoring should be used during long-duration missions to space,” adds Dr Grover.

According to experts and as mentioned in the Daily Mail report, the human body burns more calories in space to adjust to the changes in gravity and tries to maintain its body temperature in cold, harsh conditions. Additionally, to prevent muscle and bone loss, astronauts exercise about 2.5 hours a day, which leads to further calorie burning.

Sunita Williams’ Health Update: NASA Responds

Meanwhile, amid concerns about Sunita Williams’ health and that of other astronauts, a NASA spokesperson told the Daily Mail that all NASA astronauts aboard the International Space Station are in “good health” and undergo routine medical evaluations. They also have dedicated flight surgeons monitoring them.

 

Nasa’s Crew-8 mission has safely returned to Earth after 236 days in space. The team, consisting of Nasa astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, Jeanette Epps, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin, successfully splashed down off the coast of Pensacola, Florida, marking the end of their extensive mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, which carried the crew back to Earth, completed its deorbit burn as planned, with splashdown confirmed at 3.29am EDT. The mission saw the crew orbit Earth 3,776 times, covering an impressive distance of approximately 100 million miles. During their time aboard the ISS, they witnessed the arrival and departure of eight spacecraft, reflecting the ongoing operations at the station.

Smooth descent and landing
The final phase of the crew’s return proceeded smoothly. At around 18,000 feet in altitude, the drogue parachutes were deployed, slowing the spacecraft from 350 miles per hour. Shortly after, the main parachutes were deployed at 6,000 feet, further decelerating the spacecraft to a safe speed of 119 miles per hour, ensuring a controlled and secure splashdown.
The crew had undocked from the ISS’s Harmony module earlier, at 5.05pm EDT, beginning their journey back home aboard the Dragon spacecraft.
What is SpaceX’s Dragon?
SpaceX’s Dragon is capable of carrying up to seven passengers to and from orbit. It remains the only operational spacecraft capable of returning significant cargo back to Earth. The Dragon made history as the first privately developed spacecraft to transport humans to the space station.
Equipped with two drogue and four main parachutes, the Dragon ensures a safe reentry and descent for its crew, maintaining SpaceX’s reputation for reliable and efficient spacecraft operations.

Nasa is set to launch the SpaceX Crew-9 mission on Saturday, which will bring astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore back to Earth after their extended stay aboard the International Space Station (ISS) since June. The spacecraft is scheduled to launch at 1:17 pm EDT (10:47 pm IST) from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
Live coverage of the launch will begin at 9:00 am EDT (6:30 pm IST) on Nasa’‘s official website, NASA+, and YouTube.The Crew-9 mission will be the first crewed launch from Space Launch Complex-40.
The spacecraft is set to dock with the ISS around 5:30 pm EDT (3:00 am IST) on Monday.
The Crew-9 mission is part of Nasa’s Commercial Crew Program. It includes Nasa astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov. Originally scheduled for September 26, the launch was delayed due to Hurricane Helene hitting Florida’s Gulf Coast.
Nasa posted on X that managers from Nasa and SpaceX were discussing the planned September 28 launch of the Crew-9 mission to the International Space Station, along with a weather update provided by Space Launch Delta 45.

In another post on X, Nasa mentioned a live panel on the International Space Station with Nasa leaders, where they would answer questions from digital creators attending the Crew-9 Nasa Social event, as well as questions submitted online using the hashtag #AskNASA.

The mission aims to transport Hague and Gorbunov to the ISS for a five-month stay and ensure the safe return of Williams and Wilmore. Hague and Gorbunov will stay on the ISS until February, coinciding with the next crew rotation. Astronauts Zena Cardman and Stephanie Wilson were also initially part of the Crew-9 mission but were removed to make room for the returning astronauts.
Williams and Wilmore traveled to the ISS in June on Boeing’s Starliner capsule for an eight-day mission. However, their stay was extended due to issues with the Starliner’s thrusters. Nasa then return the Starliner uncrewed on September 7 for further assessment.

As NASA debates the safety of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft in the wake of multiple helium leaks and thruster issues, the agency is “getting more serious” about a backup plan to bring the ship’s two crew members back to Earth aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon, officials said Wednesday.

In that case — and no final decisions have been made — Starliner commander Barry “Butch” Wilmore and co-pilot Sunita Williams would remain aboard the International Space Station for another six months and come down on a Crew Dragon that’s scheduled for launch Sept. 24 to carry long-duration crew members to the outpost.

Two of the four “Crew 9” astronauts already assigned to the Crew Dragon flight would be bumped from the mission and the ship would be launched with two empty seats. Wilmore and Williams then would return to Earth next February with the two Crew 9 astronauts.

Shortly before the Crew Dragon launch, the Starliner would undock from the station’s forward port and return to Earth under computer control, without any astronauts aboard. The Crew Dragon then would dock at the vacated forward port.

Two earlier Starliner test flights were flown without crews and both landed successfully. The current Starliner’s computer system would need to be updated with fresh data files, and flight controllers would need to brush up on the procedures, but that work can be done in time to support a mid September return.

If that scenario plays out, Wilmore and Williams would end up spending 268 days — 8.8 months — in space instead of the week or so they planned when they blasted off atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket on June 5.

Based on uncertainty about the precise cause of the thruster problems, “I would say that our chances of an uncrewed Starliner return have increased a little bit based on where things have gone over the last week or two,” said Ken Bowersox, NASA’s director of space operations.

“That’s why we’re looking more closely at that option to make sure that we can handle it.”

But he cautioned that no final decisions will be made on when — or how — to bring the Starliner crew home until the agency completes a top-level flight readiness review.

No date has been set, but it could happen by late next week or the week after.

“Our prime option is to return Butch and Suni on Starliner,” said Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. “However, we have done the requisite planning to make sure we have other options open. We have been working with SpaceX to ensure that they’re ready to (return) Butch and Suni on Crew 9 if we need that.

“Now, we haven’t approved this plan (yet). We’ve done all the work to make sure this plan is there … but we have not turned that on formally. We wanted to make sure we had all that flexibility in place.”

Before the Starliner was launched, NASA and Boeing engineers knew about a small helium leak in the spacecraft’s propulsion system. After ground tests and analysis, the team concluded the ship could be safely launched as is.

The day after launch, however, four more helium leaks developed and five aft-facing maneuvering thrusters failed to operate as expected. Ever since, NASA and Boeing have been carrying out data reviews and ground tests in an effort to understand exactly what caused both issues.

The Starliner uses pressurized helium to push propellants to the thrusters, which are critical to keeping the spacecraft properly oriented. That’s especially important during the de-orbit braking “burn” using larger rocket engines to slow the ship down for re-entry and an on-target landing.

To clear the Starliner for a piloted return to Earth, engineers must develop acceptable “flight rationale” based on test data and analyses that provides confidence the ship can make it through re-entry and landing with the required level of safety.

“The Boeing team (is) very confident that the vehicle could bring the crew home right now with the uncertainty we’ve got,” said Bowersox. “But we’ve got other folks that are probably a little more conservative. They’re worried that we don’t know for sure, so they estimate the risk higher and they would recommend that that we avoid coming home (on Starliner) because we have another option.

“So that’s a part of the discussion that we’re having right now. But again, I think both views are reasonable with the uncertainty band that we’ve got, and so our effort is trying to reduce that uncertainty.”

Boeing adamantly argues the Crew Dragon backup plan isn’t needed and that tests and analyses of helium leaks in the Starliner’s propulsion system and initial trouble with maneuvering thrusters show the spacecraft has more than enough margin to bring Wilmore and Williams safely back to Earth.

The helium leaks are understood, Boeing says, they have not gotten worse and more than enough of the pressurized gas is on board to push propellants to the thrusters needed to maneuver and stabilize the spacecraft through the critical de-orbit braking burn to drop out of orbit for re-entry and landing.

Likewise, engineers believe they now understand what caused a handful of aft-facing maneuvering jets to overheat and fire at lower-than-expected thrust during rendezvous with the space station, causing the Starliner’s flight computer to shut them down during approach.

Ground tests of a new Starliner thruster, fired hundreds of times under conditions that mimicked what those aboard the spacecraft experienced, replicated the overheating signature, which was likely caused by multiple firings during tests of the capsule’s manual control system during extended exposure to direct sunlight.

The higher-than-expected heating likely caused small seals in thruster valve “poppets” to deform and expand, the analysis indicates, which reduced the flow of propellant. The thrusters aboard the Starliner were test fired in space under more normal conditions and all operated properly, indicating the seals had returned to a less intrusive shape.

New procedures are in place to prevent the overheating that occurred during the rendezvous. Additional manual test firings have been ruled out, no extended exposure to the sun is planned and less frequent firings are required for station departure compared to rendezvous.

In a statement Wednesday, Boeing said, “We still believe in Starliner’s capability and its flight rationale. If NASA decides to change the mission, we will take the actions necessary to configure Starliner for an uncrewed return.”

The helium plumbing and thrusters are housed in the Starliner’s service module, which will be jettisoned to burn up in the atmosphere before the crew capsule re-enters for landing. As such, engineers will never be able to examine the hardware first hand to prove, with certainty, what went wrong.

At this point, that uncertainty appears to support bringing Wilmore and Williams back to Earth aboard the Crew Dragon. But it’s not yet a certainty.

“If we could replicate the physics in some offline testing to understand why this poppet is heating up and extruding and then why it’s contracting, that would give us additional confidence to move forward, to return Butch and Sonny on this vehicle,” Stich said.

“That’s what the team is really striving to do, to try to look at all the data and see if we can get a good physical explanation of what’s happening.”

In the meantime, the wait for a decision, one way or the other, drags on.

“In the end, somebody – some one person – designated to be the decision maker, that person has to come to a conclusion,” Wayne Hale, a former shuttle flight director and program manager, wrote in a blog post earlier this week.

“The engineers will always always always ask for more tests, more analysis, more time to get more information to be more certain of their conclusions. The decider also has to decide when enough has been done. The rub in all of this … is that it always involves the risk to human life.”

Hale concluded his post by saying: “I do not envy today’s decision makers, the ones weighing flight rationale. My only advice is to listen thoroughly, question effectively, ask for more data when necessary. But when it is time, a decision must be made.”