When NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams inadvertently spent nearly nine months in space, their bodies likely underwent a series of physiological changes due to the pressures of living in space.
The duo left Earth on June 5, 2024, in what was supposed to be a roughly weeklong test mission to the International Space Station (ISS). Instead, they spent 286 days waiting to hitch a ride back to their home planet after their spacecraft experienced multiple issues.
Upon their arrival on Earth, the two astronauts were assisted out of the SpaceX Crew Dragon “Freedom” as their bodies acclimate to gravity on March 18, 2025.
Astronauts, Genetics, and Space Effects
Susan Baily, professor of radiation cancer biology at Colorado State University, says that the longer an astronaut spends in space, the more complex their transition to Earth will be.
