Sunita Williams’ shocking weight loss onboard ISS mission sparks concern in NASA

Indian-American astronaut Sunita Williams, currently aboard the International Space Station (ISS) for more than 150 days, has lost a considerable amount of weight, leading to health concerns, reported a NY Post.

According to the report, Williams was supposed to spend eight days in space, but her Boeing Starliner spacecraft faced some technical issues and delayed her return to Earth until February 2025. Meanwhile, the NASA and medical personnel noted she had 'sunken cheeks' in recent pictures, News18 quoted NY Post as saying.

A NASA employee was quoted by the NY Post, “She’s become skin and bones." Though pulmonologist Dr Vinay Gupta opined that Williams's symptoms can be attributed to normal stresses that a person faces when they live at high altitude. He added that this results in a breakdown of nutrition and drastic loss of calories.

As per details, pointed out by a NASA employee to NY Post, an average astronaut needs around 3,500-4,000 calories per day to maintain weight in space. However, Williams has not been able to provide these inputs. Also, at high altitude, preparation as well as the consumption of food in this microgravity greatly complicates the situation. Despite plenty of food available in ISS, getting the right kinds of food requires effort under such circumstances.

In the meantime, NASA has made sure Williams’s health status was closely monitored and she gets her proper weight back. All commands and all the astronauts themselves are perfectly healthy, and measures are taken to feed the astronauts properly and take care for their overall well-being.

Technical issues:

Currently, Williams is stranded on the ISS due to technical issues with Boeing’s Starliner space vehicle, along with fellow astronaut Butch Wilmore. Five of the 28 thrusters of the Starliner spacecraft failed during the approach to the ISS.

With four of these thrusters were later returned to service, questions about a spacecraft’s propulsion were raised as this is vital to control during the re-entry process.

Among other issues, the spacecraft has also encountered many helium leaks, which occurred pre- and post-launch release. These have made it difficult for scientists to determine the starliner's readiness for a return trip. In the meantime, NASA is mulling to take SpaceX’s Dragon capsule help to get the astronauts back to space.