Stranded Astronaut Responds to Viral Weight Loss 'Rumors'

In a video released Monday by NASA, stranded astronaut Sunita Williams, 59, offered a surprising reason for her weight loss during the five months she’s been stuck on the International Space Station (ISS) with fellow astronaut Barry “Butch” Wilmore, 61. Experts and spectators alike voiced concern for Williams after photos came out earlier this month showing her looking especially gaunt.

Alarming! #SunitaWilliams has turned so gaunt. All skin and bones. What was to be an 8 day mission has turned into an indefinite one. An astronaut needs 3500- 4000 calories a day to maintain their weight. She'll need about 5000 calories per day to begin to gain. pic.twitter.com/uTVxuRf0fF

— Kaveri 🇮🇳 (@ikaveri) November 9, 2024

NASA insisted stranded astronaut Sunita Williams is safe & healthy amid growing public concern for her health

The photo showed her looking 'gaunt', suggesting she had lost a significant amount of weight after spending more than 150 days stuck on the International Space Station. pic.twitter.com/vFEEkfVgDK

— AstroNana (@ImAstroNana) November 9, 2024

In the video released Monday, Williams attributed her different physique to a “fluid shift,” as well as the additional muscle she’d built in space. “There’s a lot of changes that go on up here. I think there’s some rumors going on that I’m losing weight. I’m the same weight that I was when I got up here,” Williams clarified.

“I think things shift around quite a bit, you probably heard of a fluid shift,” Williams explained. “Folks in space you know, their heads look a little bit bigger because the fluid evens out along the body.” Weightlessness during space flight can often bring a person’s blood from their lower extremities to a higher point in their body, resulting in the appearance of weight gain.

Williams and Wilmore have been trying their best to stay physically active in outer space, which is another reason her body might look a bit different. “Butch and I have been up here for a number of months. We’ve been on the workout gear. We’ve got a bike, we’ve got a treadmill, and we’ve got weightlifting equipment,” she said. “I could tell that weightlifting, which is not something I do all the time, has definitely changed me. My thighs are a little bit bigger, my butt is a little bit bigger. We do a lot of squats,” she added, explaining that they use the treadmill to help maintain “bone density in our hips and in our feet.”

Williams and Wilmore have been trapped on the ISS since June when the Boeing Starliner aircraft on which they arrived was deemed too faulty and potentially unstable to return to Earth. In September, it was announced that the pair are expected to return to Earth in February 2025, which would mark the eighth month on what was supposed to be a five-day journey for the astronauts.

Source link