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The extended stay in space on the International Space Station mission is taking a toll on NASA astronaut Sunita Williams.
Recent photos of Williams indicated that there has been visible weight loss, raising doubts of potential nutritional deficiencies and the physical impact of the extended stay.
Her cheeks were sunken, a sign of total body weight loss.
The pictures suggest calorie deficit, very common in astronauts, as they burn more calories than consumed.
The mission, which was initially planned for eight days, has now stretched up to six months due to a technical glitch in the Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft.
The unexpected extension of Williams and Barry Wilmore in space has shown an impact on the former’s body. In a microgravity environment, astronauts face several challenges, like muscle and bone loss and nutritional deficiencies, making long stays difficult.
Life in Microgravity
The microgravity environment aboard ISS is known to cause several health problems. Muscle and bone loss is a common issue faced by astronauts. They must exercise for about 25 mins daily to prevent atrophy. However, long stay for space missions will develop health issues that are hard to mitigate. All the health problems occur due to absence of gravity and fluid shifts, that can cause swelling in the head and potentially affecting vision. The disruption of metabolic processes can also contribute to nutritional deficiencies.
Cardiovascular and respiratory functions would also be affected. The immune system of astronauts also gets altered making them easily catch illnesses.
Space stations have pressurized cabins but the stress of space travel still affects the human body.
NASA is closely monitoring the health condition of both the astronauts stuck in space for more time than the scheduled. They are being provided nutrition, exercise for their psychological well-being.
Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore are likely to return early February next year. Their return journey is based on the launch schedule of SpaceX’s Dragon capsule.
