After spending more than nine months on the International Space Station (ISS), NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are back on Earth thanks to Donald Trump and Elon Musk. The pair of formerly stranded space travelers will now undergo a comprehensive recovery process to readjust to life with gravity expected to take 45 days to complete.
NPR reports that the return of NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to Earth on Tuesday evening marked the end of an unexpectedly long mission aboard the ISS. The duo, who launched on June 5, 2024, were originally scheduled to stay on the ISS for nearly a week. However, due to serious problems with the Boeing Starliner flight to the space station and later delays by the Biden administration, their return was delayed, resulting in a nine-month stay in orbit. Notable, Butch Wilmore publicly affirmed his faith in Jesus Christ as one of the keys to enduring an uncertain fate stranded in space.
Upon splashing down off the coast of Florida, Wilmore and Williams were met by post-mission recovery and medical teams who transported them to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. There, the astronauts will undergo a 45-day post-mission recovery program, which includes medical and performance testing, participation in studies, and a structured reconditioning program. The crew will spend two hours every day with trainers, working on personalized recovery plans to regain their pre-mission fitness levels.
According to NASA, most crew members’ physiological systems recover within this 45-day timeframe. However, the adjustment process can be challenging, as astronauts must readapt to life with gravity after spending extended periods in weightlessness. Former NASA astronaut Leland Melvin, who has logged over 565 hours in space, shared his own experience, recalling a moment when he forgot he could no longer float and rolled out of bed while trying to push off to the bathroom.
Dr. Natacha Chough, a NASA flight surgeon, emphasizes the importance of monitoring astronauts for motion sickness upon their return, as the inner ear’s vestibular system, responsible for balance, can be disoriented when reintroduced to gravity. To help readjust, astronauts like Melvin have to practice walking in a specific way, alternating between straight lines and turns.
The support for astronauts extends beyond flight surgeons, with a multidisciplinary team of professionals, including schedulers, nurses, trainers, psychologists, research scientists, radiation specialists, toxicologists, and audiologists, working together to optimize crew health and safety during various phases of the mission.
Being in space also carries several health hazards, such as exposure to space radiation and the weakening of bones due to the low-gravity environment. To counter this, astronauts aboard the ISS engage in two and a half hours of daily strength and cardio training to minimize bone and muscle loss. The impacts of long-duration spaceflight on the human body are still being studied, with some astronauts experiencing temporary height increases and a condition known as “spaceflight associated neuro-ocular syndrome,” which can cause swelling in the brain and flattening of the back of the eye.
President Donald Trump explained that the astronauts will visit the White House when they have sufficiently recovered. As Breitbart News reported:
“Number one, they have to get better,” Trump said in the interview taped prior to the astronauts splashing down. “You know, when you’re up there and you have no pull in your muscle, you have no gravity, you can lift 1,000 pounds like this.”
““They have to get, they have to get better. It’s going to be a little bit tough for them. It’s not easy. They were up there a long time, and when they do, they’ll come to the Oval Office,” he added.
Read more at NPR here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.
