• iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • Australia
    • Ireland
    • World News
    • Weird News
    • Viral News
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Science
    • True Crime
    • Travel
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV & Film
    • Netflix
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • TikTok
  • LAD Originals
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • Daily Ladness
    • Lad Files
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Extinct
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube

LAD Entertainment

YouTube

LAD Stories

Submit Your Content
Horrifying reason NASA astronaut fainted during ceremony hours after returning to Earth from space

Home> News> Science

Published 13:00 20 Feb 2025 GMT

Horrifying reason NASA astronaut fainted during ceremony hours after returning to Earth from space

Astronaut Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper struggled to stay on her feet during the welcome home ceremony

Brenna Cooper

Brenna Cooper

Featured Image Credit: Karen Warren/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images

Topics: Space, Science, NASA

Brenna Cooper
Brenna Cooper

Brenna Cooper is a journalist at LADbible. She graduated from the University of Sheffield with a degree in History, followed by an NCTJ accredited masters in Journalism. She began her career as a freelance writer for Digital Spy, where she wrote about all things TV, film and showbiz. Her favourite topics to cover are music, travel and any bizarre pop culture.

X

@_brencoco

Advert

Advert

Advert

The reason behind a NASA astronaut fainting after returning to Earth shows the extreme strain which going to space puts on your body.

Boarding a rocket and heading up to the stars to catch a glimpse of the cosmos sounds like a pretty cool idea in theory, sure.

But are you aware of how going into space himpacts your body?

Advert

Hanging out in space isn't good for your body (Getty Stock Images)
Hanging out in space isn't good for your body (Getty Stock Images)

It'll come as no surprise that the human body is not equipped to be in space - although you'll have likely guessed that from the amount of effort it takes to get a person off Earth.

A good example of this is what happened to US astronaut Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper, who famously fainted during a welcome home ceremony after her first trip into space.

Stefanyshyn-Piper was part of the STS-115 Atlantis crew in September 2006 and spent 12 days in space, completing two spacewalks during the mission.

However, the 62-year-old's body had a difficult time adjusting to being back on Earth, with her legs giving way while she was mid-way through a speech.

Advert

Watch the moment below:

After being helped back to her feet Stefanyshyn-Piper made light of the situation, telling the crowd: "Boy if that's not a little embarrassing," before collapsing to the ground once again.

The footage appears a little concerning at first, prompting NASA officials to state explain why Stefanyshyn-Piper's reaction is 'very normal' for a returning astronaut.

Advert

This is because the body becomes accustomed to the weightlessness of space, meaning that touching down on Earth and having to use your legs after nearly two weeks floating is often a little disorientating.

Heidemarie collapsed twice during her welcome home speech (Karen Warren/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)
Heidemarie collapsed twice during her welcome home speech (Karen Warren/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)

"Heide is in excellent health. For a returning astronaut, the symptoms she experienced are very normal for what can occur during re-adaptation," NASA flight surgeon Dr. Smith Johnston explained at the time (via Chron).

NASA goes on to add that weight-bearing bones lose an average of '1% to 1.5% of mineral density per month during spaceflight'.

Add this to the fact that astronauts' muscle mass depletes faster due to lack of exercise and it's not surprising why Stefanyshyn-Piper, and many other astronauts, have come home and found themselves feeling unsteady on their feet.

Advert

Concerns about the impact which spaceflight has on the body have begun to circulate once again amid health concerns about 'stranded' astronauts Barry 'Butch' Wilmore and Sunita 'Suni' Williams, who are set to return home soon after their Boeing Starliner mission ran into difficulties.

  • Astronaut shares the big 'lie' he realised after seeing the Earth during 178 days in space
  • NASA mystery as astronauts rushed to hospital after returning from space
  • People left with major question after NASA astronaut shares video of Northern Lights from space
  • NASA made 10 discoveries after comparing astronaut spending one year in space to his identical twin back on Earth

Choose your content:

an hour ago
4 hours ago
  • an hour ago

    Spanish government demand investigation into footballer Lamine Yamal's birthday party after 'dwarves exploited'

    The Barcelona footballer celebrated his 18th with a lavish party but was criticised for his antics

    News
  • an hour ago

    Reality behind not masturbating as 'health benefits' explained after doctor shared how often it should be done

    Abstaining may not be that beneficial after all

    News
  • 4 hours ago

    Mounjaro users warned over little known side effect that could harm you in a heatwave

    Around one in 10 GLP-1 users have reported these side effects

    News
  • 4 hours ago

    Matthew McConaughey praised for his gesture to Prince William and Kate Middleton at Wimbledon

    Prince William and Kate Middleton watched on as Jannik Sinner took home the Wimbledon men’s trophy

    News