SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft brings home stranded Astronauts

[Commander Wallace]

After nine months " marooned in space" on the International Space Station, NASA_Astronauts 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/t...n/82490709007/

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...n/82521467007/

Welcome home to all four of them.

[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]

Originally Posted by 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...

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/...the-human-body

https://newspaceeconomy.ca/2025/03/1...me-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]

Originally Posted by Commander Wallace

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/...the-human-body

https://newspaceeconomy.ca/2025/03/1...me-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.