On March 18, after an eight-day trip to the International Space Station (ISS) turned into a nine-month stay, NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore finally returned to Earth. Last June, the Boeing Starliner set off on a flight to the ISS, attempting to provide NASA an alternative to the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft for flights to the ISS and other low-Earth orbit destinations. Problems with the propulsion system hindered this mission, leaving the two astronauts stranded on the space station.
SpaceX, though not the only contractor for NASA, has taken on the role of one of the largest spacecraft providers for space missions. NASA has three main types of missions: the Commercial Crew Program, which sends astronauts to space; Commercial Resupply Services, which is in charge of cargo resupply to the ISS; and the Artemis Program, which is working on returning to the moon. The Commercial Crew Program contracts Boeing, the Resupply Services contracts Northrop Grumman, and the Artemis Program contracts Blue Origin. All three also have contracts with SpaceX.
Over their nine months on the ISS, Williams and Wilmore joined Expedition 71/72, a joint long-duration space expedition between NASA and Roscosmos, Russia’s state corporation dedicated to space exploration and research. Along with doing routine maintenance and upgrades to the systems on the ISS, the expedition conducted research on the impact of microgravity on human biology, physiology, physics, materials, and more.
Throughout their 121,347,500 mile journey, 4576 Earth orbits, and numerous spacewalk hours, the two astronauts participated in important research on how microgravity affects earthly organisms, working on the NASA mission aptly titled “Humans in Space.” Together, Williams and Wilmore conducted experiments to determine if Earth microbes can survive in space. Williams also set out to see how weightlessness affects the production of vitamins, foods, and medicines.
On January 30, Williams and Wilmore completed a spacewalk totaling nearly five and a half hours. This brought Williams’s spacewalk time to a total of 62 hours and 6 minutes, breaking Peggy Whitson’s previous record of 60 hours and 21 minutes and making Williams the female astronaut with the most accumulated spacewalk hours.
Post-return, Williams and Wilmore will have to recover, their bodies adjusting to the shock from microgravity to gravity. Microgravity and weightlessness causes bone and muscle loss, accelerated hair and skin cell aging, and cardiovascular deconditioning, amongst other side effects. Notably, Williams’ once-voluminous and black hair turned gray over the course of her 286 days away from Earth.
Though unexpected, Williams and Wilmore’s extended stay at the ISS allowed for further research and new records. As Wilmore said to The New York Times towards the end of the nine months, “It’s work. It’s fun. It’s been trying at times, no doubt… But ‘stranded’? No. ‘Stuck’? No. ‘Abandoned’? No.”
