Stranded NASA astronauts eat pizza, shrimp cocktail and cereal with milk powder

Sunita “Suni” Williams and Barry “Butch” Wilmore have been stranded on the International Space Station for five months now, despite originally planning to stay for just eight days. There are plans to bring them home, but recently people on Earth started worrying about whether the two were eating enough, especially Williams. After The Daily Mail And The New York Post While questioning Williams’ thin appearance in recent photos, Dr. JD Polk, NASA’s Chief Health and Medical Officer, said Williams and Wilmore are doing fine.

And now we know what they eat. A specialist attached to the mission the Post reports that the astronauts eat a variety of foods, including cereal with powdered milk, pizza, shrimp cocktails, fried chicken and tuna. Fresh fruits and vegetables are more limited: fresh produce is replenished every three months and freeze-dried or packaged fruits and vegetables fill the gaps.

“All NASA astronauts aboard the International Space Station are in good health,” Polk said. “It’s a shame that rumors otherwise persist.”

Williams agrees with the doctor. In one video interview conducted on November 12 on the ISS, the astronaut said she weighs the same as when she reached the space station.

“NASA and our partners have safely conducted long-duration missions aboard the Orbital Laboratory for decades, studying the effects of space on the human body as we prepare for explorations further into the solar system,” Polk said. “The crew’s health is regularly monitored by dedicated flight surgeons on Earth, and they have an individualized diet and fitness regime to ensure they stay healthy during their expeditions.”

Return planned for early 2025

In June, the two NASA astronauts landed on the ISS. In September, their defective Boeing Starliner capsule returned to Earth without them for safety reasons.

The Starliner returned alone to White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico on September 6, and the spacecraft that will take them home – a SpaceX Dragon – arrived at the ISS on September 29. They are scheduled to be returned to Earth in early 2025. .

Here’s next for the two veteran astronauts trapped on the ISS, as well as NASA astronaut Nick Haag and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, who joined them aboard the space station with the arrival of the Dragon spacecraft in late September.

Who are the astronauts?

Wilmore, 61, and Williams, 58, are experienced astronauts and are both Navy officers and former test pilots. Williams has been a NASA astronaut since 1998 and Wilmore since 2000. Both have extensive experience in space.

Williams is the former record holder for most spacewalks by a woman (seven) and most spacewalks by a woman (50 hours and 40 minutes), and in 2007 she ran the first marathon of anyone in space.

In 2009, Wilmore piloted the Space Shuttle Atlantis on its mission to the ISS, and in 2014 he was part of the ISS crew that used a 3D printer to fabricate a tool – a ratchet wrench – in space, the first time humans created something outside the world.

What do the astronauts say?

The astronauts are positive about their experiences. At one live news conference in September, Williams said that despite knowing their mission would only last eight days, they had both trained for it for “a number of years.” They are fully qualified to stay in space for extended periods of time and to help pilot the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft that will take them home next year.

“It’s very peaceful here,” Williams said on September 13, although she added that they miss their families back home.

During their extended stay, the astronauts work on research, maintenance and data analysis. That’s what they plan to do voices from space in next week’s presidential elections.

“We’re having a great time here on the ISS,” Williams said at a press conference taken from orbit in July. ‘I’m not complaining. Butch isn’t complaining that we’re here for a few more weeks.’

What was their original mission in space?

Wilmore, as commander, and Williams, as pilot, traveled to the ISS in a 15-foot-wide Boeing-made capsule called Starliner. They were launched on June 5 and docked with the ISS on June 6. NASA hopes Starliner will give the organization a new way to get crews to and from the ISS, and the fact that it’s made by Boeing is another sign that NASA is starting to lean. on the private sector for its potential for human spaceflight, The New York Times reported.

Wilmore and Williams’ ISS mission would last just eight days, during which they would test aspects of Starliner and see how it works with a human crew in space. But due to complications with Starliner, the two astronauts are still there and won’t return until 2025. They’ve stayed busy: working with the crew of ISS Expedition 71 to conduct research and maintenance activities, NASA said.

How did they get stuck in space?

The Starliner was delayed in May due to a problem with a valve in the rocket. Then engineers had to repair a helium leak. That’s all bad news for Boeing. It competes with SpaceX, which has been carrying astronauts to the ISS since 2020 and has made more than two dozen successful trips to the space station.

Starliner was finally launched on June 5 atop an Atlas V rocket, but there were some problems associated with it. NASA has announced this three helium leaks were identified, one of which was known before the flight, and two new ones. In addition to the leaks, the crew had to troubleshoot problems with faulty steering thrusters, although the craft was able to successfully dock with the ISS.

SpaceX has also had failures. In 2016, a Falcon 9 rocket exploded on the launch pad. In July this year, a Falcon 9 rocket experienced a liquid oxygen leak and put its satellites in the wrong orbit, The New York Times reported. And in late August, a Falcon 9 rocket lost a first-stage booster when it fell into the Atlantic Ocean and caught fire.

But that said, SpaceX has more than 300 successful Falcon 9 flights to its credit.

When and how will the astronauts get home?

Wilmore and Williams are brought to the home port SpaceX Crew-9 Dragon spacecraft early next year and “will formally continue their work as part of the Expedition 71/72 crew through February 2025,” the space agency said said in a statement. “They will fly home aboard a Dragon spacecraft with two other crew members assigned to the agency’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission.”

Four crew members were originally scheduled to be on board at launch, but two were left behind to make room for Wilmore and Williams’ return journey.

“Spaceflight is risky, even in the safest and most routine mode,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a statement on August 24. “A test flight by its nature is neither safe nor routine. The decision to keep Butch and Suni on board the International Space Station and to bring Boeing’s Starliner home uncrewed is the result of our commitment to safety: our core value and our North Star.”

NASA said on August 24 that it had decided to return Starliner to Earth without a crew, and the spacecraft landed safely in New Mexico on September 6.

Stuck in space: a timeline

• May: The Starliner launch is postponed due to a problem with a valve in the rocket and then a helium leak.
• June 5: Starliner is launched with Williams and Wilmore on board.
• June 6: Starliner docks with the ISS despite three helium leaks and faulty thrusters.
• September 6: Starliner leaves the ISS and lands in New Mexico, leaving Williams and Wilmore behind.
• September 28: SpaceX Crew-9 mission launches with Haag and Gorbunov on a Dragon spacecraft.
• September 29: SpaceX Dragon docks with ISS.
• From February 2025: SpaceX Dragon spacecraft returns to Earth along with Williams, Wilmore, Haag and Gorbunov.