The elongated saga of Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore could soon be coming to an end, as NASA is finally due to rescue the pair of astronauts. Williams and Wilmore have become the face of space after they were marooned on the International Space Station last year. Although Williams has reiterated they aren't stranded, their eight-day mission aboard the ISS was massively extended due to a fault with their Boeing Starliner capsule, which forced it to fly back without them.
As the days tick by, Williams and Wilmore have currently been aboard the ISS for 272 days...and counting.
Things are finally wrapping up following calls from President Donald Trump for Elon Musk to go and get them, Musk claiming they were abandoned by the Biden administration, and the world's richest man calling one famed astronaut an 'idiot'.
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SpaceX's long-awaited Crew-10 launch is scheduled for March 12, with the dynamic duo finally set to get their feet back on terra firma. After this, there are expected to be some major adjustments to life back on Earth.
Williams has explained the brutal daily regime they're undertaking in space, involving two hours of exercise to stop help try and combat damage to their bones and muscle.
We already knew there would be a physical toll trying to return to 'normal' life, but speaking to DailyMail.com, doctors have explained a little more about what Williams and Wilmore might have to deal with.
As soon as Williams and Wilmore emerge from their capsule, they're expected to be put on stretchers and rushed away for medical examination.
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Dr Vinay Gupta is a pulmonologist and Air Force veteran who claims it could take up to six weeks of brutal regimens to regain their strength.
This will start as soon as they're back on Earth and initially focus on walking, as well as flexibility and muscle strengthening. The second phase of the 45-day regime involves proprioceptive exercises and cardio reconditioning. The third and final phase is the longest, focusing on returning them to peak physical performance via 'functional development training'.
Given that Williams and Wilmore have been exposed to the equivalent of one year's of Earth radiation during a single week in space, Gupta added: "'If I was their physician, I would think about a more proactive strategy for cancer screening...We want to take a different approach here, given that they had such a unique exposure history."
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With research suggesting that an astronaut aged between 30 and 50 can lose about half their strength following a six-month period in space, biomedical engineer Dr. John Jaquish goes on to explain the effects of low gravity on bone and muscle loss: "The human body needs the Earth's gravitational pull, and in an absence of that, a lot of things are not functioning correctly."
Despite their exercise regime, Gupta added: "The reality is, they're effectively getting a fraction of the sort of exercise that we all take for granted just by walking in [Earth's] gravity.
"Invariably, despite them doing all the right things (which I know they are), you're going to see a decrease in muscle mass and strength — no question."
Although most astronauts can get back to their pre-mission fitness after just 45 days, it can sometimes take months or even years to return to where they were.