Health concerns have been voiced after a photo of two astronauts stranded in space emerged.
Over 150 days into what was supposed to be a brief eight-day mission, astronauts Sunita ‘Suni’ Williams, 59, and Barry ‘Butch’ Wilmore, 61, find themselves unexpectedly marooned aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
Launched aboard Boeing’s Starliner on June 5, their mission veered off course due to severe technical issues including thruster failures and helium leaks.
Faced with a daunting choice — return in a compromised spacecraft or wait for a rescue mission — they understandably opted for the latter, holding out for SpaceX’s Dragon capsule.
Newly released photos of the astronauts have stirred public concern, especially regarding Williams’ health, whose visibly changed appearance raised alarms about the effects of prolonged space habitation.
The image quickly circulated on X, with concerned social media users voicing their worries.
“Suni Williams’ condition doesn’t look good,” one person tweeted.
A second added: “It looks like those two American astronauts stuck in the ISS are not in good health, especially Suni Williams.”
It looks like those two American astronauts stuck in the ISS are not in good health, especially Suni Williams.🤔 pic.twitter.com/0bO64DUXeu
— ShanghaiPanda (@thinking_panda) November 1, 2024
Dr. Vinay Gupta commented on the photos during an interview with the Daily Mail, saying: “What you’re seeing there in that picture is somebody that I think is experiencing the natural stresses of living at a very high altitude, even in a pressurized cabin, for extended periods.
“Her cheeks appear a bit sunken – and usually it happens when you’ve had sort of total body weight loss.”
He added: “I think what I can discern by her face and her cheeks being sunken in is that [she] has probably been at a significant [calorie] deficit for a while.”
Despite the visible toll, the prognosis isn’t dire, as Dr. Gupta reassures, “I don’t think she’s quite at a… place where I say her life’s in danger. But I don’t think you can look at that photo and say she has sort of healthy body weight.”
Their return journey is scheduled for February 2025 as part of the SpaceX Crew-9 mission, a decision confirmed earlier this year by NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.
“NASA has decided that Butch and Suni will return with [SpaceX’s] Crew-9 next February, and that Starliner will return uncrewed,” Nelson stated, emphasizing Boeing’s commitment to resolving the spacecraft’s issues.
Reflecting on their ordeal, Wilmore expressed gratitude for their safety and the available options.
Speaking via video link during a press conference last week, he noted, per The Independent: “Obviously, when you have issues like we’ve had, there’s some changes that need to be made. Boeing’s on board with that. We’re all on board with that.”
He acknowledged the risks of pioneering new spacecraft technologies, saying: “Starliner’s crewed test flight was meant to push the edge of the envelope… In this case, we found some things that we just could not get comfortable with putting us back in the Starliner.”
— NASA (@NASA) August 24, 2024
He concluded: “There’s many cases in the past where there have not been other options. We were very fortunate that we have the Space Station and that we had the option to stay and we had the option to come back a different way.”
The astronauts are expected to be back in the new year.
