A NASA pilot who was stuck in space has spoken out after new pictures made people worry about her health. It began on June 5 with Barry “Butch” Wilmore, 61, and Sunita “Suni” Williams, 59. They were going on an eight-day trip. This didn’t happen though because of a problem with the spaceship, so they stayed up there instead of taking it home. On the plus side, they are hopeful because SpaceX’s Dragon spaceship will take them home when it’s their turn. People on Earth are worried about the NASA couple, and they have been giving updates. The release of new pictures has made people even more worried.
As people talked about Williams’ looks, some thought she might have lost weight. Pulmonologist Dr. Vinay Gupta told the Daily Mail, “Her face and sunken cheeks suggest she has likely been in a significant calorie deficit for some time.” “But I don’t think that picture shows that she is at a healthy weight.” In an email to LADbible, the space agency said, “All NASA astronauts on the International Space Station get regular medical exams and are being watched by dedicated flight surgeons. They are all in good health.”
Yesterday, November 12, NASA put out a video of Williams’s talk with the New England Sports Network. This finally gave her a voice. The astronaut was asked if her “overall health” had changed or if she had “lost any weight” while doing different things up there. They were talking about sports, exercise, and life in space. He told me, “Up here, a lot of things change.” “I believe some rumors say I’m cutting down on my weight, but it’s funny.” “I’m right at the same amount,” Williams said, happy to say that none of this was true. She says she weighs herself every day up there and that her weight is “at the same weight” as it was when she got there.
“I believe many things are shifting.” “You may have heard that people in space seem to have bigger heads because the fluid spreads out along their bodies,” she said. Butch and I have been up here for months, and the whole time we’ve been dressed to work out. We have a treadmill, a bike, and exercise gear. Though I don’t do weights very often, I could tell that it had made a big difference in my life. My legs and buttocks have gotten a little bigger because we do so many squats. She said that they use machines to make their feet and hips stronger by building up their “bone density.” Williams said, “I weigh the same, but I think my body has changed a little.”
