NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams returned to Earth in March after being stuck on the International Space Station for more than nine months due to a bungled test flight
Two NASA astronauts have told of the aches and pains of life on Earth after being stuck in space for 286 days and admitted “gravity stinks for a period”. Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams returned to Earth in March following a bungled test flight more than nine months previously that left them stranded on the International Space Station.
Their SpaceX capsule parachuted into the Gulf of Mexico on March 18. Within an hour, the astronauts were out of their capsule, waving and smiling at the cameras while being hustled away in reclining stretchers for routine medical checks. And it has not been an easy readjustment to life on Earth as they have now finished nearly two months of physical therapy. It has meant spending two hours a day strength and conditioning training so as as build up muscle mass.
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And Mr Wilmore, 62, said he is still suffering from back pain now that the rehabilitation has ended.
“Gravity stinks for a period, and that period varies for different people, but eventually you get over those neurovestibular balance type of issues,” he said, reported the Mail.
While Ms Williams, 59, also spoke of tiredness which made it harder for her to wake up early in the mornings as she preferred.
Mr Wilmore added: “We’re still floating in the capsule in the ocean, and my neck starts hurting, while we still hadn’t even been extracted yet.” And it shows how the human body has evolved over millions of years with Earth’s gravity.
The two expected to be gone just a week or so after launching on Boeing’s new Starliner crew capsule on June 5.
So many problems cropped up on the way to the space station that NASA eventually sent Starliner back empty and transferred the test pilots to SpaceX, pushing their homecoming into February. Then SpaceX capsule issues added another month’s delay.
They circled Earth 4,576 times and travelled 121 million miles by the time of splashdown. Part of their readjustment has seen them speak with psychologists and psychiatrists about their experiences on the ISS.
“You’re thrown together day and night seven days a week at 24 hours a day, and just like any family there’s a point where something rubs you the wrong way or something – that happens anywhere,” said Mr Wilmore.
Both retired Navy captains, Mr Wilmore and Ms Williams stressed they didn’t mind spending more time in space — a prolonged deployment reminiscent of their military days – when they returned to Earth. But they acknowledged it was tough on their families.