Do Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore have enough food and supplies to stay in space until 2025?

On June 5, two US astronauts — Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams — left Earth for the International Space Station (ISS) aboard Boeing’s Starliner as part of its inaugural crewed flight test, expecting to return to Earth within a week.

But as they say, the best-laid plans of mice and men oft’ go awry.

The two astronauts are now stuck on the ISS with Nasa announcing last Saturday (August 24) — almost 12 weeks after their departure — that they would remain there through early 2025 and will return home with rival SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule.

So what exactly will Williams and Wilmore do for another five or six months in space? How will they survive?

Stuck in space until 2025

On June 5, the veteran astronauts took off on what was planned to be an eight-day mission by Boeing . The aim of the mission was to demonstrate the spacecraft’s capability to safely carry people to and from the ISS. Boeing saw it as a critical mission to join Elon Musk’s SpaceX in offering regular crew transportation services to Nasa, the US space agency.

More from Explainers

How ChatGPT is becoming everyone’s BFF and why that’s dangerous This Week in Explainers: How recovering from Gen-Z protests is a Himalayan task for Nepal

However, the Starliner experienced problems on its way to the ISS, including leaks of helium, which pushed fuel into the propulsion system. Several thrusters also did not work properly. Moreover, multiple issues with a valve responsible for regulating the flow of oxidisers were also detected. The valve is essential for propulsion.

Scientists and experts carried out multiple tests — both in space and back on Earth — to determine the cause of the problem and rectify it. However, even after much diagnosis and efforts, the problems remained unsolved, forcing Williams and Wilmore to continue living on the ISS.

Impact Shorts

More Shorts

Ghaziabad woman dead, pilgrims attacked in bus… How Nepal’s Gen-Z protests turned into a living hell for Indian tourists

Were bodyguards involved in Charlie Kirk’s shooting? The many conspiracies surrounding the killing

On Saturday (August 24), Nasa administrator Bill Nelson announced that the duo will return to Earth in February 2025, while Starliner will return uncrewed. “Space flight is risky even at its safest and even at its most routine,” Nelson told reporters. “A test flight, by nature, is neither safe nor routine.”

He added the decision to keep the astronauts on the ISS and return the Starliner uncrewed “is the result of our commitment to safety,” adding, “Our core value is safety.”

Under the new plan, the SpaceX Crew-9 mission will take off in late September — after the Starliner has headed earthward, freeing a docking port on the ISS — but it will carry only two passengers instead of the originally planned four. The SpaceX vehicle in February will bring back its own crew members plus the two stranded astronauts — Williams and Wilmore.

Life aboard the ISS

So, what will the next six months look like for Williams and Wilmore? Nasa has said the two will seamlessly integrate with Expedition 71, the international crew of seven astronauts serving as the space station’s official staff.

This will see them take up typical crew tasks, such as conducting spacewalks outside the space station, maintaining the orbiting laboratory and carrying out a tight schedule of science experiments.

And it seems that the veteran astronauts have already fallen into a daily schedule. Nasa says they have used their time so far for space station upkeep, inspecting hardware, organising cargo, performing checks on Starliner, and assisting with science experiments and tech demonstrations.

Last Friday, Wilmore helped configure a new airlock, built by US-based company Nanoracks, that will serve as a new doorway to help deploy satellites, experiments and other equipment.

But what about food and other supplies? Nasa has assured that there is no immediate danger to the astronauts, stating that the ISS has sufficient provisions to support the crew for the additional time. The space station tends to have about four months of food and water reserves on board for the ISS crew. Moreover, the space station recently received two spacecraft — one carrying 8,200 pounds of food, fuel, supplies and another carrying three tonnes of cargo.

When it comes to oxygen, the ISS is equipped with systems to generate oxygen and manage waste.

However, it’s not all fine and dandy. The two have to share space with others. As astrophysicist Dr Brad Tucker explained, “The space station’s about the size of a large six-bedroom house. So there’s room, but a lot of that room is taken up with equipment.”

The issue of having extra people on board the ISS is how much air can it process and purify, and how quickly can it recycle the water? However, Nasa has assured that the astronauts have all that is required — minus their personal clothes.

That’s because Nasa opted to take their luggage off the spacecraft to make room for a much-needed pump to fix a malfunctioning toilet aboard the space station. However, the shortage of clothes is also not an issue as the ISS keeps a supply of undergarments, socks, T-shirts and other clothing items on board.

Concerns abound for Williams’ and Wilmore’s health

Despite Nasa assuring all that the two astronauts are physically healthy, there are concerns about their extended stay and the impact it will have on their physical as well as mental well-being.

Medical experts note that the extended stay on the International Space Station could lead to rapid decrease in both muscle mass and bone density, resembling osteoporosis. Without the constant pull of gravity, astronauts experience muscle atrophy and significant bone density loss — sometimes losing as much as one per cent of bone mass per month. This can further increase the risk of fractures.

Another concern for Williams and Wilmore is fluid redistribution, which results in facial puffiness and decreased fluid volume in the legs. These changes can disrupt cardiovascular function and complicate blood pressure regulation.

Experts have also flagged the issue of space anaemia. This refers to a condition where astronauts experience a reduction in red blood cells while in space. This phenomenon occurs because the body destroys red blood cells at a faster rate than it can produce them when exposed to the microgravity environment of space. A study published in Nature Medicine revealed that the bodies of astronauts were destroying 3 million red blood cells per second — 54 per cent more than a typical space flight.

Long-term space stays like the one that Williams will have to now endure can also lead to vision issues. Astronauts often suffer from what’s known as Spaceflight-Associated Neuro-ocular Syndrome (SANS), a condition where fluid shifts in the body cause pressure on the optic nerve, leading to changes in eyesight. Sunita’s vision might be temporarily impaired.

Sunita Williams has also been exposed to higher levels of radiation, which can damage DNA, increase the risk of cancer and other health issues down the line.

And this is only the physical aspect. Long periods of isolation can also affect one’s mental well-being. It will also change their perception of time .

Extended stays in space

But Suni and Butch, as they are fondly called, can take solace in the fact that they are not in a unique position. Space stays are often extended.

Nasa astronaut Frank Rubio has spent a whopping 371 days in space. He was slated to spend about six months aboard the International Space Station for his inaugural trip to low-Earth orbit that kicked off in September 2022. However, he then spent more than a year there following the discovery of a coolant leak coming from his original ride — a Russian Soyuz capsule — while docked at the orbiting outpost.

With this, he ended up setting a US record for the most continuous days spent in orbit.

However, Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov still holds the all-time record for the most days spent in space in one go. He was on board Russia’s Mir space station for 437 continuous days in orbit between 1994 and 1995.

With inputs from agencies