The stranded astronauts of NASA have given a rare interview in which they have been concerned about their health and safety.
Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, who only had to spend eight days on board the International Space Station (ISS) when they arrived on June 6, spoke with Good Morning about their long -term stay on Thursday.
When asked if they had a message for people who worry about them, Wilmore said, “We are grateful for your support.”
The interview comes just a few days after Elon Musk said that the Starliner crew was left in space for 'political reasons' by the Biden administration.
When asked about Musk's comments, Wilmore said: “Political reasons – I didn't hear that. I'm not sure if that could be the case based on what I know. '
He also explained that he and Williams do not consider himself 'stranded' and say, “That is not how we feel.”
The two astronauts are already 266 days on the ISS. They are currently planned to return to Earth in March on a SpaceX spacecraft, but by that time they spent more than nine months in space.
During a Thursday interview with Good Morning America, NASA's stranded astronauts published a powerful message of five words to Americans: “We are grateful for your support”
Americans are worried about Williams and Wilmore since their capsule, Boeing's Starliner, was plagued by problems while they brought to the ISS.
NASA and Boeing spent months trying to solve helium leaks and other problems, but the vessel was eventually considered unsafe and sent back to the earth in September without the pair.
“There are many ways to characterize it, stranded, I don't think it's one of them,” Wilmore told GMA.
'We came here with a plan to test and return the spacecraft. The plan changed.
“We also came here with a backup plan, fully trained to do everything you can do at the international space station, because nothing has been given of this company.”
Earlier this month, NASA announced that Williams and Wilmore would come home around 19 or 20 March.
When the astronauts finally return to earth next month, Wilmore said that the first thing he will do, his wife and his two teenage daughters 'hug and kiss'.
Although the Starliner crew will not break the record for the most consecutive days that are spent in space, they have registered an unusually long time on the ISS, and this can have consequences for their health.
Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore would only spend eight days on board the international space station when they launched to the Baan Laboratory on 5 June
During a joint FOX News interview with President Donald Trump, SpaceX director Elon Musk said that the Biden -Government left the Starliner -crew in space for 'political reasons'
Long-term ISS missions usually last six months, and research conducted by NASA has discovered that spending so much time in low gravity leads to considerable muscle and bone loss.
Without the gravity of the earth against the human body, weight -bearing bones lose on average 1 percent to 1.5 percent of their mineral density per month, according to NASA.
Even after astronauts return to earth, that bone loss cannot be fully corrected by rehabilitation.
Research has also shown that astronauts spend six months in space, losing about half of their strength because their muscles quickly deteriorate, which is why they spend at least two hours a day with sports to combat muscle waste.
Space radiation is also a concern. In just a week at the ISS, astronauts are exposed to the equivalent of the value of a year of the radiation they would experience on earth.
This can lead to the development of certain cancers and increase the risk of other degenerative disorders that influence multiple tissues, such as the heart, blood vessels and eyes, according to NASA.
Doctors and NASA insiders have previously expressed their concern about the weight of Williams during her extensive ISS residence, pointing to photos where she seemed 'gaunt'.
But NASA officials have said that both Williams and Wilmore remain healthy, despite the extra time they spend in the hard space for space, and that they are closely followed by doctors from the desk.
The return of the Starliner crew has been delayed several times in the last eight months.
After months of technical issues, including Thrust -Mislukings and Helium leaks, Starliner was returned to the earth in September without Williams and Wilmore.
At that time, NASA was planning to take the astronauts home in February when they were able to ride a ride on the return flight of SpaceX's Crew-9 spaces.
But in December another month was added to their stay because SpaceX engineers needed more time to prepare the crew-10 spacecraft for the launch.
The crew-9 spacecraft that will wear both his crew Nick Hague and Russian Kosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov and the Starliner astronauts back to the earth is already moored at the ISS.
But it cannot leave until the crew-10 mission comes to the space station.
That is because the NASA protocol requires what is known as a 'transfer period', in which a departing ISS crew briefly overlaps with an incoming crew to share information with them and to guarantee a smooth transition between the two teams.
This is why the crew-10 delay has added more time to Williams and Wilmore's stay at the ISS.
