U.S. astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams are recovering well after returning from a nine-month stay on the International Space Station. They have completed weeks of physical therapy to help their bodies adjust to gravity again and are now back to working with NASA and Boeing.

The astronauts were originally meant to stay in space for only eight days on a test flight of Boeing’s Starliner capsule, but engine issues with the spacecraft extended their mission to nine months. Since their return in March, both have been regaining strength and balance, which is a common challenge after long space missions.

Their recovery took about 45 days, which is normal for astronauts returning from long space missions. After coming back from space, astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams have been spending at least two hours a day working with NASA’s medical team to regain their strength. At the same time, they are also working with Boeing’s Starliner team, NASA’s space station unit in Houston, and other researchers.

Williams said recovery was tiring, and it took time for her body to fully adjust. Many of her muscles had to become active again, which made her feel tired for a while. It was hard for her to wake up early until recently. “Then one morning I woke up at 4 a.m. and thought, ‘I’m back,’” she said.

Wilmore had neck and back problems before going to space. In space, where there is no gravity, the pain goes away. But as soon as they returned to Earth and were still floating in the capsule, the neck pain came back.
The human body is not designed for space. Without gravity, muscles weaken, and the heart and blood flow can change. Being in a small space and exposed to higher radiation without Earth’s protection also affects health over time.

Boeing’s Starliner had engine problems last year, so NASA brought it back without astronauts. Because of this, astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore stayed longer on the space station.Boeing spent a lot of money fixing Starliner and flew an empty test flight in 2022 after a failure in 2019.NASA plans to send Starliner on another empty test flight to check if it’s safe. Sunita Williams agrees with this plan. Tests this summer will decide if Starliner can carry astronauts next time.