Indian-origin NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, who has been in space since June, has put an end to “rumors” about her health, saying that she weighs the same as she did when she reached the International Space Station (ISS). But it was.
The “rumors” were fueled by recent images of her “grim” appearance, where she looked emaciated and thin after spending at least 150 days in space, raising concerns of rapid weight loss.
“…I think my body has changed a little bit but my weight is the same…,” space station commander Williams told media in a video interview shared by NASA.
“There’s a lot of changes happening… It’s funny, I think there are some rumors around that I’m losing weight and stuff… No, I’m actually right at the same amount.. .We weigh in, we have a spring mass…Butch and I weigh in the same way as I did when I came here,” he added.
Ms Williams and her fellow astronaut Barry (Butch) Wilmore have been on the ISS for about five months. The two took off for their first crewed flight on June 5 aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, and arrived at the space station on June 6. However, they faced delays, threats of space debris, helium leaks, and technical glitches with the Starliner spacecraft. Travelled.
On August 24, NASA said it was too risky to return the two astronauts to Earth in the troubled new capsule, and they would have to wait until February for a ride home with SpaceX.
As photos of Ms Williams’s “sunken cheeks” and thin physique emerged, the astronaut said the change in appearance was due to “fluid changes” in the body.
“I think things change drastically… you have a fluid shift where you know people in space… their heads look a little bit bigger because the fluids move out along with the body as well. But Now, you know, we’ve been here for a few months, we’ve been working out here, we have a bike, we have a treadmill and we have weight lifting equipment,” she said.
“I can definitely tell that weightlifting, which is not something I do all the time, has changed me. My thighs are a little bigger, my body is a little bigger, we do a lot of squats. And just To go back to the treadmill…why…it’s because we are working on the bone density of my hips and legs, so, I feel like my body has changed a bit but my weight is the same. ..,” he added.
