Concerns Grow Over Astronaut Sunita Williams' Health Amid ...

Last Updated:November 09, 2024, 13:16 IST

A NASA employee told the NY Post that an average astronaut needs around 3,500-4,000 calories per day to maintain weight in space.

NASA Astronaut Sunita Williams struggles in extended ISS stay. (Photo Credit: X)

Astronaut Sunita Williams, currently aboard the International Space Station (ISS), has lost a considerable amount of weight, leading to health concerns. Williams was supposed to spend eight days in space but has been on the ISS for more than 150 days. This comes after the Boeing Starliner spacecraft faced some technical issues, delaying her return to Earth until February 2025. The NASA and medical personnel noted she had “sunken cheeks" in recent pictures.

A NASA employee was quoted by the NY Post, “She’s become skin and bones." Dr Vinay Gupta, a pulmonologist, told Daily Mail that Williams’s symptoms can be attributed to normal stresses one faces while living at high altitude that results in a breakdown of nutrition and drastic loss of calories.

“They’re intaking very high-calorie foods, as you can tell — cold cuts, and, you know, other meats, the proteins, but high-fat cold cuts — it’s not necessarily a balanced diet," Gupta said.

A NASA employee told the NY Post that an average astronaut needs around 3,500-4,000 calories per day to maintain weight in space. However, Williams has not been able to provide these inputs and that has led to her losing a lot of weight. The difficulties of food preparation as well as the consumption of food in this microgravity greatly complicates this matter. While the ISS has plenty of food available, getting the right kinds of food requires effort under such circumstances.

NASA has made sure Williams’ health status was closely monitored. NASA officers have been in the process of coming up with the means of stabilising her weight plus any nutritional forfeitures. Still, officials have stated that all commands and all the astronauts themselves are perfectly healthy and that steps are being taken in flight not only to feed the astronauts properly but to care for their overall well-being in this unusually long mission.

Sunita Williams is currently stranded on the ISS as technical issues with Boeing’s Starliner space vehicle, meant to transport her and fellow astronaut Butch Wilmore, back to Earth. During the approach to the ISS, five of the 28 thrusters of the Starliner spacecraft failed. While four of these thrusters were later returned to service, the mishap prompted questions about a spacecraft’s propulsion which is important to control during the re-entry process.

The spacecraft has also encountered many helium leak incidences. These leaks occurred pre and post-launch release and have made it difficult to determine the state of readiness of the starliner for a return trip.

There are other options for NASA, including the possible use of SpaceX’s Dragon capsule if Starliner cannot be prepared for the task.

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News viral Concerns Grow Over Astronaut Sunita Williams’ Health Amid Extended ISS Stay And Weight Loss