Here’s what’s next for astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore back on Earth
After a nine-month odyssey, the two US astronauts are back on Earth. From vision loss to fluid build-up, here’s what happens next.
NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore have returned to Earth in a SpaceX dragon capsule after an unexpected stay on the International Space Station that lasted nine months.
The pair splashed down in waters off Florida’s Gulf Coast on Wednesday, concluding a lengthy stint in space that was supposed to last just eight days when it launched in June 2024.
Along with American astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, the duo were extracted from the capsule and helped onto a recovery vessel.
Once they’re back in shape they can expect a grand White House visit with President Donald Trump.
In the meantime, the astronauts will spend the next few days being assessed by doctors at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
The astronauts have also likely been reunited with their families by now, according to NASA protocols for a returning space crew.
Here’s what could happen next for the NASA pair and what we know so far.
WHO ARE THE ASTRONAUTS?
Both Wilmore and Williams were elite athletes and were in the Navy before they turned to space travel.
Wilmore, 62, grew up playing American football in Tennessee. Meanwhile Williams, 59, was a competitive swimmer and distance runner.
Both of them had done two space flights before this one which included long stays at the space station. Williams became an astronaut in 1998 and Wilmore in 2000.
WHY WERE THEY STUCK IN SPACE?
Wilmore and Williams were launched in Boeing’s Starliner. But soon after their takeoff in June 2024, there were technical issues.
The helium leaked and thrusters malfunctioned on the way to the orbiting lab.
NASA ordered the capsule back empty in September, leaving Wilmore and Williams stranded aboard the International Space Station.
On March 14, members of the Crew-10 mission successfully launched aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.
Two days later, Crew-10 successfully docked at the ISS, setting up the return to Earth of Wilmore and Williams.
WHAT HAPPENED WHEN THEY LEFT THE CAPSULE?
Immediately after landing, the astronauts were assisted off the SpaceX capsule in stretchers and wheelchairs because of the weakness of their bones.
The astronauts have been taken to Houston, Texas where they get a full health check and a range of medical diagnostics will be performed.
After all the tests are conducted, astronauts will be reunited with their family members.
HOW DID THEY SURVIVE?
The astronauts had little fresh produce to supplement their diets and relied on breakfast cereal with powdered milk, pizza, roast chicken and tuna.
The ISS has a stockpile of freeze-dried food which can be reheated using a food warmer.
WHAT ARE THE IMPACTS ON THE BODY?
There are huge impacts on the human body after spending nine months in space, according to Alan Duffy, a professor of astrophysics at Swinburne University of Technology.
He said when the astronauts go up to space, they’re in great shape but after significant time without gravity, it can take a long time for their body to fully recover. Specifically, he said walking becomes difficult as their bones have thinned and muscles have weakened.
The pair will likely have weeks of grinding physical therapy and recovery.
Everything from walking, to wearing clothes, to smelling food and other odours terra firma will require getting used to for, experts say.
“There’s no sense of down. Your body just gets confused when it finally does get that sensation,” Professor Duffy said.
“They have been weakened from those many months of not having to work against the force of gravity and their everyday lives up there, and that’s something that, unfortunately, really does take months, if not years, to fully regain.”
The astronauts may also struggle with vision issues during space travel as low gravity causes circulation changes and fluid build-up in the head, which alters the shape of the eye.
Upon returning to Earth, their vision typically returns to normal.
These fluid build-ups can also make astronauts feel as though they’re constantly battling a head cold in space, with relief arriving once they return home and circulation returns to normal, alleviating the pressure.
HOW IS BONE DENSITY AFFECTED?
Professor Duffy said most astronauts lose about a per cent of bone density per month. He said this can be regained once on land but there is significant ageing in an astronaut’s body after such a long time in space.
While Professor Duffy explained that nine months is a long time to be in space, no one has ever gone as long as two years.
“We really were not made for space,” Professor Duffy said.
“Thanks to these long duration missions, we now can keep astronauts a lot healthier for a lot longer, but sooner or later, they really just have to come back home.”
Some other effects of such a long period of time in space include gaining sensitive skin and a change in eyesight that may require glasses. After nine months in space, the astronauts also face a loss in senses.
“They’ve essentially felt like they’ve had a cold for nine months, unable to smell or taste,” Professor Duffy said. “On land, they have that ability to regain their sense of smell and taste, and I suspect they’ll enjoy their first meal greatly.”
WHAT ARE THE PSYCHOLOGICAL CHANGES
Professor Duffy said that many astronauts come back “fundamentally changed” with a sense of connection to humanity.
“Many astronauts have described an incredible fundamental shift in their emotional state and their sense of connection to a wider humanity,” Professor Duffy said.
“From seeing the planet and its curvature and the actual sense that we are all on this small rock that’s going around the sun.”
“That has an immense psychological effect.”
HOW WERE TRUMP, MUSK INVOLVED?
Elon Musk’s company SpaceX launched a mission in September to retrieve the two astronauts.
Since American President Donald Trump took office in January, both him and Musk have made the extended mission political.
“I asked Elon Musk to go up and get the abandoned Astronauts, because the [Joe] Biden Administration was incapable of doing so,” Trump wrote on Truth Circle Monday.
“They shamefully forgot about the Astronauts, because they considered it to be a very embarrassing event for them – Another thing I inherited from that failed group of incompetents.”
The two astronauts have repeatedly said that they did not feel abandoned.
“We don’t feel abandoned, we don’t feel stuck, we don’t feel stranded,” Wilmore said to CNN earlier this year.
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WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
Once they’re given a clean bill of health they’ll be allowed to return home — Wilmore to Tennessee, and Williams to Massachusetts — where they’ll begin a 45-day reconditioning program that will include two hours of physical therapy daily with specialised trainers, NASA told The New York Post.
“Crews have previously spent longer durations in space, and Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore’s performance after their return is expected to be consistent with established norms,” a NASA representative said, explaining that most astronauts’ bodies recover within the 45-day period.
During that time they’ll be working to reacquaint their bodies with Earth’s gravity, and addressing other physiological deficiencies that developed during their 286 days in the ISS’ near-zero gravity — chief among them, muscle wasting from months floating with minimal strain on their bodies.
Even their hearts will have been weakened after months of easily pumping blood without the resistance of gravity, so the astronauts will need to take their recovery slow to avoid hurting themselves.
Originally published as Here’s what’s next for astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore back on Earth