Tim Peake reveals unexpected health impact of being in space as stranded NASA astronauts return delayed
British astronaut Tim Peake has explained the health effects of being stranded in space after news broke of Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore's return being delayed.
The NASA astronauts stepped foot aboard the International Space Station (ISS) for the first time in June 2024, for what was meant to be an eight-day mission, though they have been left stranded in orbit for nine months.
Williams, 59, and Wilmore, 62, headed up on the Boeing Starliner capsule, which ran into some technical issues, before being deemed unsafe to take the pair back.
After spending close to a year in space, you'd expect a plan to be in place to bring the astronauts back, but this has been delayed (again).
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The American space explorers are still looking down at our blue planet and waiting for news on their return, after their original target date of 12 March has come and gone.
President Donald Trump, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and NASA have been working to find a way to bring the astronauts home as soon as possible, after they were meant to return to Earth on Sunday (16 March).
The Crew-10 mission was postponed due to a hydraulic issue, with the next launch window from Florida suggested to be this evening (14 March).
A joint NASA-SpaceX mission, it was intended to fly four crew members to the ISS, allowing Williams and Wilmore to return to normality - and gravity.
SpaceX have since stated that the hydraulics on one of the clamp arms are being looked at by engineers, as they were concerned with whether it would open fully during launch.
While Williams called the ISS her 'happy place', before adding she missed her family and dogs, Wilmore also said he was prepared to stay up for months at a time if necessary.
But how much of an effect does staying up in space for that long actually have?
British astronaut Tim Peake once spoke about the longterm effects of being in space, in an interview with LADbible.
"We're still finding out about the longterm effects of spaceflight... we do an hour and a half/two hours of fitness as well," he said about the process.
Peake explained: "But we also know that our skin ages, our eyesight changes and [that] we're more prone to blood clots.
"These are relatively new things that we've found out. I guess the longest effect is the radiation dose, as that's hard to quantify what the effects will be," he said.
Speaking about his time onboard the space station, he also added that you get 'the equivalent of eight chest x-rays a day' while onboard, highlighting that 'it's not trivial'.
Despite being stranded up in space for so long, Williams revealed that she has learnt a lot while on the ISS, especially about our planet.
"It opens up the door to making you think a bit differently," she said, adding: "It's the one planet we have and we should be taking care of it."
Topics: NASA, Space, Health, Science, Technology
Joshua Nair