Astronauts Come Home

Two astronauts spent 286 days/9 months on the International Space Station because of technical issues that occurred during their weeklong mission in June 2024.

            Astronauts from Elon Musk’s company, SpaceX released a Crew Dragon capsule which brought Williams and Wilmore safely home in March. Crew-10 were carried to space in a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft on Sunday and met up with the ISS, where Wilmore and Williams had been living. They launched the Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket just after 7 p.m. from the U.S. space agency’s Kennedy Space Center, with NASA. 

Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore were on the first test flight of Boeing’s Starliner capsule. However, they developed problems with the vehicle, one problem being with a set of thrusters and the other involving helium leaks in the propulsion system. Either could have affected the Starliner's ability to carry Wilmore and Williams back to Earth during the docking process, which caused them to stay in space.

Those thrusters are used to move the capsule around in orbit, particularly to adjust its position as it docks and undocks with the space station. Four thrusters were restored, which allowed the astronauts to complete their arrival at the space station.

William’s and Wilmore were able to stay alive during the time of being in orbit because they had enough food for extended missions like 9 months by relying on a combination of pre-cooked meals, freeze-dried options, and efficient water recycling. 

“Every so often we send more food and drinks up for the astronauts at the international space station. There are also other countries that are up there with their astronauts, so while those two were up there, they were participating with other countries for the science experiments that they were doing. The international space station is also able to produce its own oxygen; it goes through a chemical reaction that is actually able to produce enough oxygen for the people that were there,” NHS physics and astronomy teacher Michael Dyer said.

Williams and Wilmore have to do a 45-day rehabilitation program involving physical therapy and monitoring to address the physiological effects of microgravity, including muscle atrophy and bone density loss. They also have to undergo vision monitoring, kidney function tests, general health monitoring, and pain management frequently after returning to earth. 

“When you're in space for an extended period of time, your muscle mass and your bone density is impacted. When your body is not fighting against gravity your muscles then have to relearn how to fight against gravity to support your body. They are also hit with more radiation so that could cause long term effects like different kinds of cancer, so they will be monitored now to make sure that the impact from that wasn’t devastating,” Dyer said. 

            Crews on the ISS end up receiving an average of 80 mSv to 160 mSv during a six-month stay, meanwhile Williams and Wilmore received 9 months worth. Millisieverts (mSv) are the units of measurements which determine how much radiation has been absorbed by the body. Although the type of radiation is different, 1 mSv of space radiation is almost the same as receiving three chest X-rays. 

            Overall during Williams and Wilmore’s time in space, they controlled science experiments, helped with spacewalks and maintenance projects. But while they stayed in space, Williams said, their longer than expected space mission was harder for their families and loved ones. 

“I wanted to hug my husband and hug my dogs,” Williams said when she was asked about the first thing she wanted to do after landing. After Wilmore returned home, Wilmore’s daughter posted a TikTok expressing her excitement over being able to be with her father after nine months.