Dolphins welcome NASA astronauts as they finally splash down after nine months in space
The two stranded NASA astronauts have finally retuned home after nine months in space. But there’s one sight everyone is talking about.
The two stranded NASA astronauts have finally returned to Earth, splashing down in the US, after their week-long mission turned into a staggering 286-day space stay.
Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams splashed down off the coast of Florida aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule at 5.57pm ET (8.57am AEDT Wednesday) after a 17-hour-journey from the International Space Station (ISS).
The pair had blasted off from the ISS – where they have been stuck for the past nine months – along with NASA’s Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, at around 4.05pm AEDT on Tuesday.
After splashdown, NASA Mr Hauge could be heard telling mission control the crew were “grinning ear to ear”.
Rescue crews quickly swooped in to retrieve the capsule – which was seen bobbing in the water alongside a pod of about five dolphins.
The dolphins, who passed by right in time to welcome the astronauts back to Earth, didn’t go unnoticed by NASA or those watching at home.
“You could see the dolphins swimming around the capsule, which was kind of incredible,” Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s commercial crew program, said of the sight.
Rescue crews transported the Dragon capsule to a large recovery ship where the astronauts were able to exit the craft.
Mr Hauge and Mr Gorbunov were the first crew members to exit the capsule, lifted out of the hatch and placed onto stretchers, as per the standard procedure.
Ms Williams was the next to exit the craft, sharing a thumbs up and a wave to the camera as she was met with applause.
An elated Mr Wilmore followed, sharing two thumbs up after he was lifted onto the stretcher.
The crew will now be flown to Houston, where they will complete a 45-day rehabilitation program.
Mr Wilmore and Ms Williams blasted off to space aboard Boeing’s Starliner in June last year on what was supposed to be an eight-day round trip to test out the spacecraft on its first crewed flight.
But the Starliner developed propulsion issues and was deemed unfit for their voyage back home. Instead, the craft returned to Earth empty last year.
The two veteran astronauts were subsequently reassigned to NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission, which arrived at the ISS last September with a reduced crew of two – rather than the usual four – to accommodate the pair.
But before they could head home, the Crew-10 relief team needed to arrive at the ISS.
That crew decoked at the station early on Sunday.
“Colleagues and dear friends who remain on the station … we’ll be waiting for you. Crew-9 is going home,” Mr Hague said.
Crew ‘doing great’ after ‘clean’ landing
Seapking to press after the splashdown, Mr Stich said Crew-9 were “doing great” since their return to Earth.
“They’ll spend a bit of time on the recovery ship getting checked out, making sure they’re healthy and ready to go,” Mr Stich said at a press conference on Tuesday.
“Then eventually they’ll make their way back to Houston.”
Mr Stich congratulated the astronauts and crew involved in the mission, which had been “nine months in the making”.
“Overall, I would say it was a really clean undocking, re-entry and landing,” he said. “The Dragon vehicle performed extremely well.”
Mr Stich also thanked Boeing and said NASA would work hand-in-hand with the aerospace company on the certification of the Starliner and getting it back to flight.
“You know, Butch and Suni returning on Dragon to me shows how important it is to have two different crew transportation systems,” he said.
Trump to welcome astronauts at White House
US President Donald Trump said Mr Wilmore and Ms Williams will visit the White House following their long-awaited return.
“They have to get better. It’s going to be a little bit tough for them — it’s not easy, you know, they’re up a long time,” Mr Trump told Fox News after they splashed down on Tuesday.
“And when they do, they’ll come to the Oval Office.”
Mr Trump and his close adviser, Elon Musk, who leads SpaceX, have repeatedly suggested former President Joe Biden abandoned the astronauts and refused an earlier rescue plan.
“They shamefully forgot about the Astronauts, because they considered it to be a very embarrassing event for them,” Mr Trump posted on Truth Social on Monday.
Such accusations have prompted an outcry in the space community, especially as Mr Musk offered no specifics and NASA’s plan for the astronauts’ return has remained largely unchanged since their Crew-9 reassignment.
The President has also drawn attention for his bizarre remarks, referring to Ms Williams, a decorated former naval captain, as “the woman with the wild hair” and speculating about the personal dynamic between the two.
“They’ve been left up there — I hope they like each other, maybe they love each other, I don’t know,” he said during a recent White House press conference.
‘Slow but steady’ readjustment
NASA astronaut Warren ‘Woody’ Hoburg, the pilot of SpaceX’s 2023 Crew-6 mission, said Crew-9 can expect a “slow but steady” readjustment process after returning to Earth.
“It’s one day at a time,” Mr Hoburg told CNN, comparing the process to “recovering from an injury with rehab”.
“Crew-9 will start their rehab right away. On day one after landing, they’ll be in the gym, starting to work with trainers. And then every day after that, they’ll get more and more capable, strong, and back toward recovery.”
‘Unbelievable resilience’
Mr Wilmore and Ms Williams’ 286-day stay exceeds the usual six-month ISS rotation but ranks only sixth among US records for single-mission duration.
Frank Rubio holds the top spot at 371 days in 2023, while the world record remains with Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov, who spent 437 consecutive days aboard the Mir station.
That makes it “par for the course” in terms of health risks, according to Rihana Bokhari of the Center for Space Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine.
Challenges such as muscle and bone loss, fluid shifts that can lead to kidney stones and vision issues, and the readjustment of balance upon returning to a gravity environment are well understood and effectively managed.
“Folks like Suni Williams are actually known for their interest in exercise, and so I believe she exercises beyond what is even her normal prescription,” Ms Bokhari told AFP.
Still, the unexpected nature of their extended stay – away from their families and initially without enough packed supplies – has drawn public interest and sympathy.
“If you found out you went to work today and were going to be stuck in your office for the next nine months, you might have a panic attack,” Joseph Keebler, a psychologist at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, told AFP.
“These individuals have shown unbelievable resilience.”
‘Puffy face and chicken legs syndrome’: Why astronauts can look different after returning home
Dr Rowena Christiansen, the University of Melbourne’s space health topic co-ordinator, previously told news.com.au an “extended period in space can be quite challenging and quite taxing on your body”, with the weakening of muscles and bones of the biggest risks astronauts can face.
“Because the muscles don’t have to work as hard to support the body, they can become weaker and get smaller,” she explained, adding that muscles in your heart, legs and neck can be affected,” Dr Christiansen said.
“Alongside that, because your bones aren’t having to work against gravity, your bones lose minerals in microgravity, particularly calcium, and that can lead to a decrease in bone density.”
Dr Christiansen said gravity has a significant effect on the distribution of fluids in your body, explaining astronauts who spend time in microgravity can develop what is known as “puffy face and chicken legs syndrome”.
“If you take away the effects of gravity then you tend to get less fluid in the bottom half of your body, and fluid tends to shift to the top half of your body, so you tend to get a more puffy face, and that can give you things like nasal congestion and potentially affect your sense of smell,” she said.
She said it’s why images of astronauts taken before they travel to space compared to when they return to Earth may show them holding more fluid in their face.
Astronauts may also experience changes to their eyes and vision known as Spaceflight Associated Neuro-ocular Syndrome (SANS) – a syndrome unique to humans who fly in space.
“It is thought that some of these fluid shifts – because they’re contributing to increased pressure in the skull – can lead to changes like a flattening of the shape of the eyeball and the swelling of the optic nerve, so that can lead to astronauts having changes in their visual acuity, which is how your ability to focus on scenes,” Dr Christiansen said.
“So they might need to use reading glasses while they’re up in space, as opposed to not needing them here on Earth. So they always keep a supply of reading glasses at the international station.”
– With AFP
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