Dangling in weightlessness, astronaut Sunita Williams floated inside her Boeing Starliner space shuttle, surrounded by gadgetry of electronic buttons and computerized walls. Swimming in microgravity, she made her way to a close-cut chamber where she strapped a harness to her body and started running on a treadmill as part of her participation in the 2024 Falmouth Road Race. Sunita, along with her fellow astronaut Butch Wilmore, has been stranded in space for eight months, in what was expected to be an eight-day mission. They are now officially stuck at the International Space Station (ISS), probably till 2025. Amid this scenario, they are finding creative ways to spend their time in space, per PEOPLE.
61-year-old Wilmore and 58-year-old Sunita have been in space since June 5, when Starliner shot upwards from Earth for this eight-day mission. Soon afterward, the orbiter started experiencing issues like helium leaks and thruster problems. Their scheduled return date was recurringly postponed until it was ultimately postponed to next year. At one point during their time on the ISS, they even had to scoop themselves inside the Starliner after a defunct Russian satellite got crushed and its debris started spreading in space around the orbit. They were relieved when debris passed without crashing into their spacecraft, reported Live Science.
Although they are safe right now, that may not always be the case. Space’s gravityless environment can not only make astronauts homesick, but also trigger a series of physical, emotional, and psychological issues. Going to the bathroom, for example, is a procedure involving suction, which becomes unpleasant over time. Plus, the lack of gravity steals a lot of health from astronauts’ bodies. Fluids shifting in their bodies can cause problems with their eyesight, bone density, and muscle mass. When they make their way to Earth, they will have to be pulled out because their low muscle mass will make them incapable of walking by themselves. Psychologically too, they experience detachment, hollowness, and disinterest, explained BBC. But both Sunita and Wilmore appear to be cheerful despite all of it.
“We are having a great time here on ISS,” said Williams during a July 10 press conference from orbit, per Time. “Butch and I have been up here before and it feels like coming home. So yeah, it’s great to be here.” One particular thing they are paying attention to is having good sleep. The space station is equipped with only six sleep chambers, which are phone booth-sized privacy pods with a sleeping bag and a storage area for snacks and personal supplies, along with two laptop computers studded to the walls. Since there isn’t enough space for all the astronauts onboard, Wilmore is currently using a sleeping bag in the Japanese Space Agency’s Kibo module.
Apart from sleep, the astronauts’ typical schedule involves working in the Starliner and carrying out various tests related to communications, life support, power, and other systems in the microgravity environment. But since they have long completed their checklist, they’re now doing other tasks, one of which is repairing a urine processing pump.
As for the ration supplies, astronauts were recently supplied with a stock of fresh clothes, food, and fuel through a spacecraft called Cygnus that visited the ISS. Apart from the usual fresh fruits and vegetables, their food supply included coffee, grapefruit, and blueberries. And as mentioned above, Sunita is keeping up with her fitness regime, like with the 7-mile Falmouth race. Sunita is an avid runner who previously ran the same race from space in 2012 and also ran the Boston Marathon in 2007 during a mission, according to Cape Cod Times.
According to Futurism, NASA is yet to announce a plan for how to bring back Sunita and Wilmore home safely. The agency is considering two options: either risk their return inside the defective Starliner or use the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft early next year for their return. If they choose to return via Starliner, its malfunctioning propulsion system may even cause the space shuttle to spin out of control and crash into orbit. But despite everything, the astronauts’ spirits are soaring. “Space is her happy place,” Sunita’s husband said in an interview, per the New York Post.
