The National Aeronautics and Space Administration reports that NASA astronaut Sunita Williams is under possible impacts of a long time spent aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Recent pictures depict her losing apparent pounds, according to recent reports.
These photographs which have been widely circulated on various social media sites have caused a buzz over the change in her outward appearance while people concerned themselves, the astronauts remain in good health, say NASA officials.
NASA Allays Fear over Astronaut Health Issues
As the tension brews, NASA Spokesman Jimi Russell stressed that periodic examinations are conducted on all the astronauts who are on board the ISS. “All the astronauts on board the ISS are regularly assessed by dedicated flight surgeons. They are healthy and go on performing their functions as scheduled,” NASA Spokesman Jimi Russell told Daily Mail last week.
Reports show that Sunita Williams was losing weight because she could not ingest the much-needed calories high in space; she weighed about 140 pounds when she headed to her mission. Loss of muscle and bone density and difficulties in diet stability are some of the inhibiting factors of long-duration space missions where the effects of being in space are compounded by changes in body physiology of the astronauts involved in such a mission.
“She has lost a lot of weight. The pounds have melted off her, and she’s now skin and bones. Stabilizing her weight loss is a priority, and we are hopeful to reverse this trend,” a NASA employee involved in the mission told the New York Post. The agency remains optimistic that with tailored dietary adjustments and exercise routines, Williams’ health will stabilize before her scheduled return.
Mission Setbacks Lead to Prolonged Stay in Space
Astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore have been on the International Space Station since June, but not as planned. It was a hitch in their initial mission that forced them to extend their tour.
On June 5, the astronauts launched on an eight-day test flight for Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft. Something went wrong on that test flight, though, leaving the astronauts stranded in orbit when the Starliner proved unable to safely return them to Earth.
NASA made the very tough decision to return the Starliner to Earth without its crew, citing safety concerns. “The risk was too high to bring the astronauts back on the malfunctioning craft,” according to a NASA mission controller. Due to this reason, Williams and Wilmore have been stuck on the ISS for nearly six months-longer than they had initially signed on for. They should return to Earth in February of next year.
ISS Astronaut’s Health: Issues.
Long term space mission can pose different ways of challenging astronauts’ physical health. Last year, three NASA astronauts-Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore-included-were compulsorily forced to spend nearly eight months on the ISS after their scheduled short-term mission was unexpectedly extended due to bad weather on Earth and Starliner’s delayed return to Earth.
The crew, consisting of Russian cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin, returned safely on 25th October aboard a SpaceX capsule. However, barely minutes after splashing down into the Pacific Ocean, the astronauts were taken ashore to a local hospital for medical check-up, where one of the three American astronauts reportedly spent a night for observation due to a undisclosed medical reason.
In fact, NASA has failed to produce information on health issues it has encountered in these astronauts, but it does claim that the health and safety of the astronauts feature among their top concerns. “We are fully committed to ensuring our astronauts are healthy upon their return, which includes comprehensive medical evaluations,” NASA spokesperson Jimi Russell added.
The Demanding Environment of Space
Extended living in space is very challenging because astronauts experience severe muscle atrophy, loss of bone density, and nutritional deficiencies. The human body undergoes physiological changes in quite significant ways, with some astronauts still experiencing side effects despite having rigid exercise routines and carefully planned diets.
Spending above 300 days in space, Sunita Williams is among the most experienced astronauts at NASA. The long time has also been dreadful for her, mainly the surprise postponements that have been witnessed in this mission. As such, the health impacts she faced have brought to the fore once again the risks faced by astronauts in their long time out in space.
Forward: Preparations for Future Missions
As NASA gears up for more extended missions – including the Artemis program in sending humans once again to the Moon, and even outward, to Mars – it is more than aware of the health outcomes from long travels in space. Findings from the current missions would prove invaluable for the future endeavor into deeper space.
As NASA persists in the study and response to health concerns about long-duration missions, so the agency has also been doing some research on advanced technologies and medical protocols that can protect astronauts. The end is to survive and then thrive in space over time to prepare for humanity’s next steps beyond Earth.
Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore are expected to return in February next year, and NASA keeps promising them safe return. Both the astronauts will, however, continue scientific work on the ISS before leaving, producing precious data and enabling eventual future space missions to greatly benefit from it as well as contributing to a broad knowledge of life in space.
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