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Barry ‘Butch’ Wilmore, 61, and Sunita ‘Suni’ Williams, 59, only planned to
be in space for about a week. But the two NASA astronauts have been stuck on
the International Space Station since June due to several technical
problems.
They’ll be up there for a bit longer—NASA has announced that their rescue
mission, originally scheduled for February, has been delayed. SpaceX, owned
by Elon Musk, needs another month to prepare the new Dragon capsule, which
will bring Butch and Suni home.
“Building and testing a new spacecraft is a meticulous process requiring
great attention to detail,” said NASA’s Steve Sitch. This means Butch and
Suni will be living on the ISS for around eight months.
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alt=”(FILES) This undated handout picture from Nasa released on July 2, 2024 shows NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test astronauts (from top) Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams inside the vestibule between the forward port on the International Space Station’s Harmony module and Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft. Two astronauts stranded in space may sound like the start to a big-screen science thriller, but the Boeing Starliner mission is no work of Hollywood fiction. Astronauts Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Sunita "Suni" Williams were originally scheduled to spend a little more than a week aboard the International Space Station as part of the debut crew flight test of the Starliner. However, the spacecraft encountered several issues during the flight, and now the two astronauts will likely have to extend their stay aboard the ISS for several months. (Photo by Handout / NASA / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE – MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / NASA" – NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS – DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS (Photo by HANDOUT/NASA/AFP via Getty Images)”
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ever since (Picture: AFP/Getty Images)
But how will this extended stay affect Butch and Suni’s bodies?
Space is a challenging environment for humans. There’s no air to breathe and
no gravity to keep us stable.
Even onboard the ISS, space can have strange effects on the human body.
Why stand when you can float?
Standing up becomes unnecessary in space. Muscles that help maintain posture
like the back, neck, calves, and quadriceps can weaken by up to 20% in just
two weeks.
This includes the heart, which doesn’t have to work as hard in low-gravity,
causing it to shrink slightly each week.
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Blood flow is affected too. On Earth, the heart pumps blood up and gravity
pulls it down. In space, the heart ends up pushing too much blood to the
head, causing fluid buildup behind the eyes, known as oedema, which can
develop in two weeks.
Some astronauts, like Michael R. Barratt who spent six months on the ISS in
2009, became more farsighted and developed retinal issues.
‘Puffy face and chicken legs’
So, what happens when there’s too much blood in the head and too little in
the legs?
“The result is ‘puffy face and chicken legs’,” said Professor Mike Tipton
from the University of Portsmouth. “This shift is due to microgravity, and
once back on Earth, the blood pools in the lower body, increasing the risk
of fainting when standing.”
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pool in unusual places (Picture: Nasa/SWNS)
As their bodies adjust to zero gravity, Butch and Suni may lose weight. Most
astronauts lose about 5% of their body weight during a four to six-month
stay in orbit.
Bones also lose minerals and strength without gravity. While older adults
lose 0.5-1% of bone mass annually, astronauts can lose up to 2% monthly.
Our muscles and bones help us move, but the brain is in control. Studies
have shown that long space missions can rewire brain areas responsible for
movement and orientation, as seen in a Russian cosmonaut who spent 169 days
on the ISS a decade ago.
They might come back taller
Here’s some good news for those who are 5’11” but claim to be 6′. Without
gravity compressing them, people can grow about two inches taller in space
as their spines elongate.
However, this can cause back pain while in space.
Gravity or the absence of it isn’t the only difference between life on Earth
and in space.
Radiation isn’t a big concern for those on Earth, as the atmosphere blocks
most of it. But the ISS doesn’t have this protection. High-energy atomic
particles from exploding stars can penetrate spaceships, spacesuits, and
skin.
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alt=”Mandatory Credit: Photo by Joel Kowsky/Nasa/Planet Pix via ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock (14822684b) Support teams work to secure the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft after splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico, October 25, 2024 off the coast of Pensacola, Florida. The capsule carried Expedition 70 NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, and Jeanette Epps, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin, back from the International Space Station. NASA SpaceX Crew-8 Capsule Returns to Earth, Pensecola, Fl, United States of America – 25 Oct 2024″
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Kowsky/Nasa/Planet Pix via)
These high-energy particles increase the risk of cancer for astronauts,
damage their DNA, and affect their white blood cells.
The longest time any human has been in space is almost 438 days, a record
held by Dr. Valery Polyakov on the Russian space station Mir in 1994 and
1995.
NASA, however, doesn’t expect Butch and Suni to stay on the ISS for that
long.
“We appreciate the hard work by the SpaceX team to expand the Dragon fleet
in support of our missions and the flexibility of the station program and
expedition crews as we work together to complete the new capsule’s readiness
for flight,” added Stich from NASA.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
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