NASA’s SpaceX crew touched down in Houston late Tuesday after their space station mission and successful splashdown earlier in the evening.Needham-native Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore returned to Earth just before 6 p.m. Tuesday after a nine-month stay at the International Space Station. They were expected to be gone just a week or so after launching Boeing’s new Starliner crew capsule on June 5, 2024.They flew home alongside NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov.NASA’s Johnson Space Center shared photos early Wednesday of the crew as they arrived at Ellington Field in Houston at 11:19 p.m.Earlier, the SpaceX capsule splashed down near Tallahassee, Florida, as NASA’s mission control in Houston erupted in cheers.Minutes later, the crew was seen waving and smiling as they were helped out of the capsule and put onto stretchers.Williams and Wilmore’s eight-day journey turned into more than 9 months in space, after their Boeing Starliner suffered serious mechanical issues.Dr. Ariel Ekblaw, founder of the MIT Space Exploration Initiative, said the astronauts bodies have changed while in space and they will have to retrain to Earth’s gravity.”When you’re living in a long-duration microgravity mission, you do lose some of your muscle mass. Your heart weakens because it’s not having to pump your blood against the force of gravity. And even funny things like your eyesight can change because the shape of your eyeball is a little different in microgravity,” Ekblaw said.Cady Coleman, a retired NASA astronaut, recalled how she felt when she would return from space.”It was hard to breathe and hard to unclench my stomach,” Coleman said. “We lose bone about ten times faster than somebody with osteoporosis. So being part of the study to help understand how osteoporosis works, is something very meaningful.Coleman’s book Sharing Space: An Astronaut’s Guide to Mission, Wonder and Making Change came out last summer, while her last trip in space was in 2011. Now she is discussing how the brain and middle ear deal with gravity.”You take your pinky finger and give yourself a little push and it will send you across the whole space station,” Coleman said.Coleman said returning to gravity on Earth can cause nausea and fainting.”Our skin actually up there gets thinner and more sensitive,” Coleman said. “You can think of skin as a barrier for disease.Coleman said blood vessels can also be restricted and astronauts can return to Earth with smaller hearts.All of these data points have to be documented by medical experts right away, upon the astronauts’ return to Earth. The astronauts will be checked out by flight surgeons as they adjust to gravity, officials said and should be allowed to go home after a day or two.They will be monitored for days, months and up to years.During her time in space, Williams broke the female record for the most time on spacewalks at 62 hours and 6 minutes.The Associated Press contributed to this report.
NASA’s SpaceX crew touched down in Houston late Tuesday after their space station mission and successful splashdown earlier in the evening.
Needham-native Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore returned to Earth just before 6 p.m. Tuesday after a nine-month stay at the International Space Station. They were expected to be gone just a week or so after launching Boeing’s new Starliner crew capsule on June 5, 2024.
They flew home alongside NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov.
NASA’s Johnson Space Center shared photos early Wednesday of the crew as they arrived at Ellington Field in Houston at 11:19 p.m.
Earlier, the SpaceX capsule splashed down near Tallahassee, Florida, as NASA’s mission control in Houston erupted in cheers.
Minutes later, the crew was seen waving and smiling as they were helped out of the capsule and put onto stretchers.
Williams and Wilmore’s eight-day journey turned into more than 9 months in space, after their Boeing Starliner suffered serious mechanical issues.
Dr. Ariel Ekblaw, founder of the MIT Space Exploration Initiative, said the astronauts bodies have changed while in space and they will have to retrain to Earth’s gravity.
“When you’re living in a long-duration microgravity mission, you do lose some of your muscle mass. Your heart weakens because it’s not having to pump your blood against the force of gravity. And even funny things like your eyesight can change because the shape of your eyeball is a little different in microgravity,” Ekblaw said.
Cady Coleman, a retired NASA astronaut, recalled how she felt when she would return from space.
“It was hard to breathe and hard to unclench my stomach,” Coleman said. “We lose bone about ten times faster than somebody with osteoporosis. So being part of the study to help understand how osteoporosis works, is something very meaningful.
Coleman’s book Sharing Space: An Astronaut’s Guide to Mission, Wonder and Making Change came out last summer, while her last trip in space was in 2011. Now she is discussing how the brain and middle ear deal with gravity.
“You take your pinky finger and give yourself a little push and it will send you across the whole space station,” Coleman said.
Coleman said returning to gravity on Earth can cause nausea and fainting.
“Our skin actually up there gets thinner and more sensitive,” Coleman said. “You can think of skin as a barrier for disease.
Coleman said blood vessels can also be restricted and astronauts can return to Earth with smaller hearts.
All of these data points have to be documented by medical experts right away, upon the astronauts’ return to Earth.
The astronauts will be checked out by flight surgeons as they adjust to gravity, officials said and should be allowed to go home after a day or two.
They will be monitored for days, months and up to years.
During her time in space, Williams broke the female record for the most time on spacewalks at 62 hours and 6 minutes.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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