Brutal recovery Artemis 2 astronauts face following return to Earth as bodies struggle with gravity

One of the biggest unexpected challenges of space travel is the adjustment period astronauts have to undergo upon their return to Earth, and NASA's Artemis 2 crew is currently powering through a brutal recovery following their historic mission.

While getting into space in the first place is a spectacular feat, allowing the astronauts on board NASA's Artemis 2 mission to break records and see what nobody has before, some of the most dangerous parts occur near the end of the trip.

The reentry procedure might only take around 14 minutes in total, but it's arguably the part where things could go wrong the easiest as the Orion spacecraft had to power through temperatures exceeding 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

For the astronauts themselves, however, their 10-day trip is now followed with a brutal recovery period where their body has to adjust to the shock of returning to a planet with gravity.

NASA's Artemis 2 astroanuts now have to undergo a brutal recovery period following their return to Earth (Bill Ingalls/NASA via Getty Images)

One of the first things that the crew had to undertake following their splash down was a health scan, as a helicopter rushed them to a nearby U.S. Navy vessel where the checks took place.

Now that's completed they'll have to complete physical reconditioning sessions to help them get back up to speed with Earth living, as a lack of gravity significantly affects how your body functions.

Not only do you forget that things no longer float – often leading to hilarious situations where items are regularly dropped – but your body as a whole doesn't have the strength or balance to stand for long periods of time.

Bone density is lost when you're in space, and the lack of gravity means that your muscles have to work far less — and this includes vital organs like your heart and lungs.

The astronauts will have lost bone density and saw their muscles work far less in space (Danielle Villasana/Getty Images)

Balance is also affected as your vestibular system (inner ear) becomes 'confused' after any amount of time in space, and astronauts will have to relearn otherwise simple movement during the extensive rehab sessions.

It doesn't matter how much exercise you do in space, there's no preparing for how difficult it will be to adjust to life back home, but thankfully NASA is more than equipped to guide the astronauts through the process in the coming weeks.

They might not have too long to get used to it though, as it will be little more than a year before the next Artemis mission is scheduled to launch. While this one won't yet allow them to step foot on the Moon, it's currently the final preparation before history is made once more.