A SpaceX Dragon Capsule for the Return of a Spacecraft Mission to the International Space Station After the Launch of Starliner

The early summer launch was Starliner’s first trip with a human crew on board. The capsule made it to the ISS, but not before encountering a number of issues, including multiple helium leaks and the malfunctioning of some of its thrusters.

NASA decided that, rather than risk flying Williams and Wilmore back on a questionable craft, they would return the beleaguered Starliner to Earth without a crew.

NASA said it had decided to integrate Williams and Wilmore into the space station crew for technical and budgetary reasons, and during their time on the station the pair has been conducting experiments and spacewalks.

That occurred early Sunday morning, when two NASA astronauts, a Japanese astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut who had docked on the ISS floated through a hatch to greet their colleagues.

Shortly after taking office in January, President Trump said he asked his close political adviser and SpaceX founder Elon Musk to “go get” Williams and Wilmore, whom Trump said had been “virtually abandoned in space by the Biden Administration.”

The astronauts’ ride back to Earth was docked on the International Space Station since September. The SpaceX Dragon capsule that flew the pair home on Tuesday arrived at the space station in the fall with two empty seats for the duo’s return trip.

Musk said in February that he had made an offer to the Biden administration “months ago” for SpaceX to bring the astronauts home early, but that the administration “refused” and delayed the pair’s return for “political reasons.”

The long journey for Williams and Wilmore was capped by the splashdown on Tuesday, which raised questions about Boeing’s ability to carry out missions for NASA.

The new Boeing Starliner spaceship carried Williams and Wilmore into the stars. The flight was part of NASA’s private crew program, which contracts with private companies to ferry astronauts and cargo from the International Space Station. SpaceX, the other company hired through the program, has been successfully flying missions for NASA for years.

The capsule carrying Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore splashed down in the water near the coast of Florida. The vehicle had detached from the space station early Monday morning.

The astronauts spent more than nine months in the International Space Station before splashing down off the coast of Florida.

After the capsule landed, the astronauts were met by medical teams and taken to the NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. NASA says they’ll go through a post-mission recovery program. During this time, the crew will have medical and performance testing, participate in studies and follow a “structured reconditioning program.”

They will work on a personalized recovery plan with trainers in order to get back to the fitness they had before leaving on their mission.

Leland Melvin, who flew to the ISS on two separate missions in 2008 and 2009, the last with Wilmore, said he was able to get back to his baseline after being home for about a month. He was part of the 17th group of NASA astronauts who have spent more than 500 hours in space. The children’s book Space Chasers was written by him. Still, he was not allowed to drive for a week to avoid the possibility of passing out or falling over while behind the wheel.

“How astronauts adjust when back on Earth when they are in space,” a NASA spokesperson tells NPR at the university of Texas Medical Branch

“I was like, laying in bed. I had to go to the bathroom I started to push off my back thinking that I would be going to the bathroom. And the light was out and I’m pushing up and I roll out of bed,” he says.

The University of Texas Medical Branch has a NASA flight surgeon and assistant professor that oversees crew members’ health care before, during and after missions. She says motion sickness is the first illness she looks for in astronauts.

Within the inner ear is the vestibular system, which is made up of sensory organs that help with one’s sense of balance. In weightlessness, the system can’t determine which way is up or down.

“You’re walking in a straight line and then you start doing a curve. You turn and it causes your head to hit the ground, and you can fall over. You walk straight and then turn. And then you walk straight and then you turn around.

Source: How astronauts adjust when back on Earth after being in space

How astronauts adjust to family life: The role of crew health, physician’s office, and medical professionals during mission-to-mission transition

While astronauts receive medical attention from flight surgeons when they return home, it takes a village to support them after the mission ends. Teams that make a nutrition plan for astronauts, physicians who monitor health and people who help them adjust to family life are just some of the things that happen before and after a mission.

“It’s not just flight surgeons, but also schedulers, nurses, trainers, psychologists, research scientists, radiation specialists, toxicologists, audiologists, and others who all work together during various phases of the mission to optimize crew health and safety,” Chough says.

Exposure to space radiation is one of the health hazards that comes with being in space. An environment with little gravity can also weaken the bones.

It’s important to track muscle mass and mineral density pre and postflight so you can use them or lose them. If you don’t exercise regularly in flight, your body won’t be able to repair its muscles and bones.

To counter this, astronauts aboard the ISS do two and a half hours of daily strength and cardio training. She says that this helps minimize muscle and bone loss. He says he worked out at the International Space Station while on his way to space and lifted weights for preparation.

Studies on the impacts of being in space for a long period of time are still being done. During a study conducted on astronaut twins Mark and Scott Kelly, researchers found that while Scott was on the ISS, he temporarily became two inches taller.

Chronic weightlessness can cause bodily fluids to rise up towards one’s head and cause swelling in the brain and flattening of the back of the eye that are related to spaceflight associated neurological syndrome. Some astronauts have mild changes that can cause significant outcomes if they develop this condition, according to NASA. And the long-term outcome from the changes is unknown.