SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft brings home stranded Astronauts

[Commander Wallace]

After nine months " marooned in space" on the International Space Station, NASA_Astronauts (https://twitter.com/NASA_Astronauts?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etwe etembed%7Ctwterm%5E1902099027199480089%7Ctwgr%5Ec1 59db69f5e9274a78b096b3e97bf61497c4959e%7Ctwcon%5Es 1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.floridatoday.com%2Fstory %2Ftech%2Fscience%2Fspace%2F2025%2F03%2F18%2Fstuck-starliner-boeing-crew-9-astronauts-returning-this-evening-on-spacex-dragon%2F82490709007%2F) Nick Hague, Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore, and cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov splashed down within a minute of it's expected time at 5:57 p.m. EDT off the Gulf Coast of Florida near Tallahassee.

Quote: Medical teams will be ready to assist the crew. It is normal for astronauts to experience muscle weakness their first days back on Earth after being in microgravity for an extended period of time — and was even an issue during week-long Space Shuttle missions. Astronauts return to normal in the weeks post-spaceflight as their bodies readjust to Earth's gravity.

Starliner's Crew Flight Test and Dragon's Crew-9 marked Williams' and Wilmore's third flight to and from space. On this mission, the two astronauts traveled 121,347,491 statute miles (195,289,857 kilometers) while completing 4,576 trips around Earth in 286 days.

Elon Musk has said that he offered to retrieve the stranded Astronauts under Biden's Presidency but was turned down.

https://www.floridatoday.com/story/tech/science/space/2025/03/18/stuck-starliner-boeing-crew-9-astronauts-returning-this-evening-on-spacex-dragon/82490709007/

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2025/03/18/stuck-nasa-astronauts-return-spacex-dragon-splashdown-where-when/82521467007/

Welcome home to all four of them. :yep: :Kaleun_Applaud:

[Jimbuna]

A long overdue return :)

[Raf1394]

Would be interesting to know the effects on your body, being 9 months in space.

They really have to investigate for the future. A human body is not made for being in space for a long time...

[Commander Wallace]

Would be interesting to know the effects on your body, being 9 months in space.

They really have to investigate for the future. A human body is not made for being in space for a long time...

Long term exposure in Space can have detrimental effects on the human body. Muscle growth and definition can atrophy and shrink in Space and confined areas. Connective tissue break down and there is a depletion of Bone mass.

It has been suggested that long term exposure to space travel can leave Space Traveler's with long term Health effects. Radiation exposure can result in detrimental effects as well.Prolonged exposure is linked to higher cancer risks and potential cognitive decline.

Quote :



Body mass and fluids: Astronauts lose about 20 percent of their body fluids and about 5 percent of their body mass while in space.
Muscle: Microgravity causes muscle atrophy, but exercise for two hours a day, six days a week and supplements can reduce muscle loss.
Skin: Skin thins, tears easily and heals more slowly in space.
Eyes: Microgravity impairs vision while radiation increases cataract risk.
DNA: Most genes reset after returning to Earth, but about 7 percent remain disrupted.
Psychosomatics and cognition: Radiation may cause brain damage and the onset of Alzheimer’s disease. Space disrupts orientation, causing motion sickness.
Cardiovascular system: Blood circulation slows down and production of red blood cells decreases. Cardiac arrhythmia is common.
Immune system: The immune system weakens. Radiation exposure from six months in space equates to 10 times the annual exposure on Earth.
Bones: Skeletal deformation and bone loss are likely with 1 percent of bone mass lost every month. Astronauts become taller because their spines expand while in orbit.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/3/19/nasa-astronauts-return-to-earth-how-does-space-change-the-human-body

https://newspaceeconomy.ca/2025/03/18/the-human-body-in-space-medical-side-effects-of-long-term-time-on-the-iss/


This is just what we know. There may well be other long term effects that we aren't yet aware of.

[Skybird]

"Hi Darling, did you also bring cigarettes and butter? I hang on the phone all day long."

[Raf1394]

Long term exposure in Space can have detrimental effects on the human body. Muscle growth and definition can atrophy and shrink in Space and confined areas. Connective tissue break down and there is a depletion of Bone mass.

It has been suggested that long term exposure to space travel can leave Space Traveler's with long term Health effects. Radiation exposure can result in detrimental effects as well.Prolonged exposure is linked to higher cancer risks and potential cognitive decline.

Quote :



Body mass and fluids: Astronauts lose about 20 percent of their body fluids and about 5 percent of their body mass while in space.
Muscle: Microgravity causes muscle atrophy, but exercise for two hours a day, six days a week and supplements can reduce muscle loss.
Skin: Skin thins, tears easily and heals more slowly in space.
Eyes: Microgravity impairs vision while radiation increases cataract risk.
DNA: Most genes reset after returning to Earth, but about 7 percent remain disrupted.
Psychosomatics and cognition: Radiation may cause brain damage and the onset of Alzheimer’s disease. Space disrupts orientation, causing motion sickness.
Cardiovascular system: Blood circulation slows down and production of red blood cells decreases. Cardiac arrhythmia is common.
Immune system: The immune system weakens. Radiation exposure from six months in space equates to 10 times the annual exposure on Earth.
Bones: Skeletal deformation and bone loss are likely with 1 percent of bone mass lost every month. Astronauts become taller because their spines expand while in orbit.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/3/19/nasa-astronauts-return-to-earth-how-does-space-change-the-human-body

https://newspaceeconomy.ca/2025/03/18/the-human-body-in-space-medical-side-effects-of-long-term-time-on-the-iss/


This is just what we know. There may well be other long term effects that we aren't yet aware of.


Thanks, these are serieus conditions. This gives you the reality of living in space.

Having healthy humans living or traveling space for a long period of time, is still fiction i guess.

[Otto Harkaman]

I just can't imagine humans surviving the trip to and from Mars with our current technology.

[Commander Wallace]

I just can't imagine humans surviving the trip to and from Mars with our current technology.

I think to be safe, we need to be able to create an artificial environment in space that can replicate conditions here on Earth. We're a long way from that point. Efforts to develop and construct a faster than light " Warp Drive " are ongoing.

If the appearance of UFO's is to be believed, then faster than light travel may also be possible. :yep:

[Skybird]

^ Since an UFO in the meaning of not-man-made represents unknown technology (if technology at all), that is a far-fetched conclusion. ;)

Maybe space travel must be more thought in terms of travel by mind. The outer space seems to be unfinite, the inner space seems to be infinite. That begs the question whether both spaces really are two. Or even can be two at all - if both are infinite.

Another scenario not to be ruled out is that we find ways to move our mind from biological hardware into mechanical, more endurable hardware. Many astronomers and physicists assume that for this reason most civilizations, if there are any - I am not convinced - , are not inhibited and formed by biological but technological entities. Robot civilization, to put it simply.

Our own AI experiment has an unknown outcome. Nobody can rule out that we as biological creatures will not survive it.

What is mind? What is space? Whats the difference, in the end? Where did it all began? Did it began at all? And whatever the answer may be - why was/is it so? Why is there simply not just nothing?

Our sciences tell us to be specialist idiots. Maybe we dont see the forest for all the trees.

And maybe the forest is not friendly.

When I was young, I was a big fan of scifi scenarios about colonizing other planets, and exploring space. But today I think this cold black vacuum is just lethal and hostile to any life, travelling into it holds no more attraction to me, and the idea that man will survive as a species only when colonizing other planets and bulding new civilizations there - borders insanity to me. Not to mention the principle question whether that is really desirable.

If we do not learn to have a peaceful mind we cnanot carry a peaceful mind to other stars or planets, only our old inner flaws and the same old conflicts.

Consider you reach Mars. What would you do there, eh? Only one thing you could find out there: how damn far away from your real home you are. Living in a container - is not attractive. And when we cannot even manage our own home planet to clean its atmosphere and pollution - how can we dare to dream of terraforming the atmosphere of another planet...? Our forefathers build big cathedrals, but building these were measured in generations, in centuries sometimes, the whole cities around them evolved and grew dramatically in that time. Who today still thinks and lives in such time scales? Nobody.

Little boys at child play. Thats why Musk and Trump get along so well with each other. They play like little boys on a school backyard. And they cant look beyond its fence. Elon plays the astronaut, and Donny is Captain Nemo. Two 8 year-old who dont grow up and get entangled by their fantasy. Lovely.

[Commander Wallace]

^ I made no conclusions. I suggest you re read what I said. You should pay closer attention to what people write as opposed to putting words in their mouths.



If the appearance of UFO's is to be believed, then faster than light travel may also be possible. :yep:

[Skybird]

^ I made no conclusions. I suggest you re read what I said. You should pay closer attention to what people write as opposed to putting words in their mouths.
I was referring to your last sentence "If the appearance of UFO's is to be believed, then faster than light travel may also be possible". Thats all. ;)