It's the end of an era, as NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore are finally back on Earth. Their supposed eight-day mission to space turned into a 285-day stay on the International Space Station thanks to problems with their Boeing Starliner. Although the Crew-9 return vessel has been docked with the ISS since September 2024, Williams and Wilmore had to wait for the Crew-10 relief crew’s arrival to take over from them and Crew-9's Nick Hague and Aleksandr Gorbunov.
After a couple of false starts, Crew-10 finally arrived on the ISS on March 16 and shared emotional scenes with Williams, Wilmore, and the rest.
Williams and Wilmore had already sent their thanks to President Donald Trump and SpaceX's Elon Musk, with the pair being vocal about wanting to get the astronauts back as soon as possible. Musk took it one step further and accused the Biden administration of 'abandoning' Williams and Wilmore up there for political reasons.
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We were told that Williams and Wilmore would make a watery landing off the coast of Florida at 5:57 p.m. EST on March 18, while it was expected they'd be rushed off into a 'brutal' recovery regime due to their extended time in space.
With a successful landing on time, Williams and Wimore exited their Dragon craft aboard the Megan rescue vessel but were immediately taken away on stretchers to the private medial quarters.
Although it's common practice for astronauts to be checked after returning from space, Williams and Wimore's nine-month stay makes them more susceptible to the long-term side effects.
The current record for the longest time an American astronaut has spent in space belongs to Frank Rubio thanks to his 371-day mission from September 21, 2022, to September 27, 2023.
Still, there's been much debate about the health of Williams and Wilmore, with the former particularly being in the news due to worries about her appearance. Simply put, the human body isn't designed to spend long periods in space.
Williams had warned she'd lost the ability to walk properly, while a loss of muscle mass, potential weakening of the heart, and osteoporosis are all other possible side effects.
There's also the fact that the weightlessness of space can cause the shape of your eyeballs to flatten, which can affect the retina and blood flow, leading to changes in how well they can see.
Perhaps the most concerning is astronauts being bombarded with excess radiation, meaning there's a potential increase in cancer scares.
Despite being back on Earth, the next few weeks and months are sure to be crucial for Williams and Wilmore. They might think they've escaped the glare of the media, but something tells us their story has only just begun.