Concerns have grown about the health of NASA astronauts stranded on the International Space Station after recent photos emerged showing one of them looking badly drawn.
Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore have been stuck on the International Space Station since June 6, when their Boeing Starliner plane experienced a technical malfunction.
The two brave Americans, who were due to be on the space station for just eight days, have spent 153 days among the stars – and doctors are raising concerns about their health after a new photo showed Williams, 59, looking starkly emaciated.
NASA astronauts Uni Williams and Butch Wilmore leave the Neil A. Armstrong for operations and checkout at Kennedy Space Center for Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on June 5, 2024. AFP via Getty Images Williams and Wilmore, having dinner in the station’s kitchen on September 9, 2024. NASA
The two astronauts were seen eating a custom dinner consisting of raw pizza, ketchup, mustard, and various miscellaneous items.
Sonny Williams makes pizza aboard the International Space Station on September 9, 2024. NASA Williams emerges from the Operations and Exit Building at Cape Canaveral, before the launch of the Boeing Starliner spacecraft in June 2024. Getty Images
Although she is smiling and appears to be in good spirits, Williams looks noticeably blanker-cheeked than when she first stepped into the orbital workplace.
Dr Vinay Gupta told the Daily Mail: “What you see there in that picture is someone who I think is suffering from the normal stresses of living at very high altitudes, even in a pressurized cabin, for long periods.”
He added that Williams’ noticeably sunken cheeks were likely the result of a “significant” calorie deficiency.
Gupta explained that the human body burns more calories in space than it burns on Earth due to low temperatures and harsh general conditions.
Sonny Williams wears a pirate eye patch to celebrate Halloween, October 29, 2024. NASA Johnson Sonny Williams displays the Space Tissue Equivalent Dosimeter (SpaceTED) instrument inside the Kibo Laboratory module of the International Space Station, November 1, 2024. NASA Johnson
He stressed that one known health concern for anyone who spends a lot of time in space is muscular atrophy.
“They’re eating very high-calorie foods, as you can say – cold cuts, you know, other meats, proteins, but high-fat cold cuts – not necessarily a balanced diet,” Gupta told the Daily Mail. .
Sunita Williams speaks virtually from the International Space Station to attendees at a reception to celebrate Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., October 28, 2024. AFP via Getty Images
The alarming analysis comes after a crew of four NASA astronauts returning to Earth aboard SpaceX’s Dragon capsule were hospitalized after spending 200 days on the International Space Station.
One of those astronauts stayed overnight at Ascension Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola, according to NASA.
The space agency did not reveal the nature of the medical emergency, and the astronaut was released the next day.
Astronaut Sunita L. Williams poses for an official NASA photo on September 22, 2004 in Houston.
