Nasa astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore are set to return to Earth on March 18. They will be undocking from the International Space Station (ISS) marking the end of an extraordinary nine-month journey in space.
Williams’s initial mission was set to be a brief eight-day stay in June last year. But due to some technical issues, the Starliner was deemed unfit for their return journey.
Now, the crew has been stuck in space for nearly nine months which can be a long time away from Earth’s gravity. During this time in space, the body goes through a lot of changes and readjusting to Earth’s gravity can be difficult. Some of the changes include losing bone density, leading to frequent fractures, higher risk of slipped disc along with muscle shrinkage.
Here are some of the issues that the astronauts can face after landing on Earth.