Gruelling 45-day process 'stranded' astronauts will have to undergo as they begin intense readjustment to Earth
NASA astronauts Sunita 'Suni' Williams and Barry 'Butch' Wilmore have a long recovery road ahead of them following their nine-month stay at the International Space Station (ISS).
The two astronauts successfully splashed down off the east coast of Florida on Tuesday (18 March) after their eight-day mission had been extended following their aircraft facing technical difficulties.
Wilmore and Williams must now undergo a strict protocol to readjust to Earth's conditions, which began with the crew being stretchered off the capsule.
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A NASA spokesperson previously told LADbible: "All NASA astronauts aboard the International Space Station undergo routine medical evaluations, have dedicated flight surgeons monitoring them, and are in good health."
But what else can they expect to go through?
For starters, they will have to endure weeks of physical therapy and a recovery programme after three quarters of a year in space, as they will need to once again get used to wearing clothes or experiencing fresh food, among other things.
The astronauts will probably have been reunited with their families by this point, but still face a number of days at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, where they were taken after arriving on the SpaceX Crew Dragon space capsule.
Only once their health has been cleared can they return home, and this is when they will have to begin a specific 45-day reconditioning programme, NASA told the New York Post.
In an explanation provided by a representative from the space agency, they told the publication: “Crews have previously spent longer durations in space, and Suni Williams and Butch Willmore’s performance after their return is expected to be consistent with established norms.”
As part of their reconditioning program, Williams and Wilmore have to undergo two hours of physical training with specialised trainers.
They added that most astronauts fully recover within the 45-day window as they'll be working to once again familiarise their bodies with gravity, and combat any physical issues that might have developed over their 286-day stay onboard the ISS.
Speaking to The Guardian, Swinburne University astrophysicist Alan Duffy described what a continuous lack of gravity can do a person's body.
He wrote: "The lack of gravity causes significant, and irreparable, bone density loss. It also causes muscles to waste in your arms, legs, trunk and elsewhere, including your heart, which, because it doesn’t have to pump blood against gravity, has to work much less hard."
The astronaut's body also builds up fluids in their heads, leading to what Duffy describes as a feeling akin to a 'constant cold'.
In addition to their 45-day programme though, they can also look forward to receiving an invite to the White House from President Donald Trump.
“Number one, they have to get better,” he told Fox News. “You know, when you’re up there and you have no pull in your muscle, you have no gravity, you can lift 1,000 pounds like this.”
Trump went on: “They have to get, they have to get better. It’s going to be a little bit tough for them. It’s not easy. They were up there a long time, and when they do, they’ll come to the Oval Office.”
Joshua Nair