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NASA astronauts who face being stuck on the International Space Station until 2025 after what was supposed to be an eight-day mission have sparked a wave of concern back on earth, as fans following their journey have described the situation as a ‘nightmare’.
Yet, US astronauts Sunita Williams, from Needham, Massachusetts, and Barry ‘Butch’ Wilmore, of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, who have been on board for 63 days due to faults with the Boeing Starliner craft they travelled on, have been keeping ‘thoroughly busy’ on board.
The duo have been conducting science experiments, helping to clean the toilets and even taking part in weightless Olympics-inspired workouts in order to stay occupied and stay positive amid uncertainty.
During a briefing with reporters, Williams, 58, said: ‘We’ve been thoroughly busy up here, integrated right into the crew.
‘It feels like coming back home. It feels good to float around. It feels good to be in space and work up with the ISS team. So yeah, it’s great to be up here.’
Stranded astronauts onboard the International Space Station have resorted to a number of surprising measures to keep themselves entertained – including Olympics-inspired workouts
Suni has been taking part in science experiments, including defying the station’s microgravity to water plants
Williams’ positive nature will no doubt stand her in good stead during the extended stay. On June 11, days after arriving she tweeted to say she was having the ‘best week ever!’.
‘So happy to be back in space and on (ISS). The ride was amazing, and being here with friends is just awesome,’ she said.
She’s previously spent a total of 10 months on board the ISS, during two different missions in 2006 and 2012, so the enivronment will be familiar to her, and before her most recent mission, she had clocked up 322 days in space.
‘Once you get there you’re pretty busy, and they keep you busy and you have to work out to maintain your bone density and muscle mass, so that’s part of the day as well and there’s always all these tasks that are occupying your time,’ she told the University of Strathclyde’s space school.
Williams, whose husband Michael is a federal marshall in Texas, said that her military background has helped her to cope with deployments, after starting her career as a helicopter pilot in the Navy, but admitted that the ‘hardest part’ is being away from loved ones.
Meanwhile, Butch also began his career as a Naval pilot and he flew combat missions over Iraq and Bosnia in the 1990s.
The married father-of-two daughters, Daryn and Logan – has clocked up 178 days in space on previous missions, including a 167 day stint aboard the ISS.
In addition to his career as an astronaut, he’s a pastor at Providence Baptist in Pasadena, Texas, and has spoke about how his faith helps him to cope with the uncertainty of space travel.
A video has shown the astronauts taking advantage of the zero gravity onboard to complete Olympics-inspired weightless workouts.
The conditions gave them a significant advantage, making somersaults and weightlifting appear easy.
The team also showed off their slow-motion running and discus throwing, while the hammer throw was noticeably easier.
Since their arrival, the astronauts have been performing ultrasounds on their veins to collect data on how space affects the human body.
They have also been tasked with chores on board including swapping out a urine processing pump, as well as taking an inventory of food supplies onboard.
The science experiments include attempts to water plants in space, made difficult by the lack of gravity.
Sunita Williams and Barry ‘Butch’ Wilmore have had their stay on the International Space Station extended indefinitely after hoping to visit the orbiting lab for 8 days
Being trapped in space hasn’t stopped the astronauts from enjoying the Olympic Games
The Starliner is pictured docked in the International Space Station. The two astronauts who flew to space on the faulty aircraft remain trapped above the Earth indefinitely while NASA and Boeing probe a series of defects
By working with surface tension, hydroponics and air circulation, they have been able to redirect the water onto the plants, against the atmosphere of the space station.
Wilmore, 61, was tasked with servicing a pair of freezers used to hold research samples, as well as refilling the coolant in one of the station’s water pumps.
Williams added: ‘We’ve been doing science for them, maintenance – some major maintenance that’s been waiting for a little while.
‘There’s the urine processor pump that we took one good pump out. It’s called Frankenpump – that’s ready to go in case we have any problems with the system.
‘Butch and I just did a moderate temperature cooling refill. I got to do some gene sequencing. You got to do some other science experiments as well with a moon microscope that was 3D-printed.’
The Space station, which has been continuously occupied since November 2000, is more luxurious inside than you might think.
Williams and Wilmore are still far from the record of most days spent in the station, after Peggy Whitson completed 665 days onboard in September 2017.
According to NASA, the living and working space is larger than a six-bedroom house, with two bathrooms, a gym and a 360-degree view bay window.
It turns out microgravity offers a big advantage in Olympic activities, as astronauts were able to ‘weightlift’ two crew members
The team put on their own version of the Olympic Games, as Suni and Barry have now spent more than 60 days away from home
The Space Station is also a ‘space laboratory’ where crew members spend their time doing experiments. Barry is pictured
The astronauts have to work out for at least two hours a day to mitigate the loss of muscle and bone mass in microgravity.
Once a week Williams and Wilmore go into their Starliner craft and speak to their control team about things they’ve noticed while onboard and during their journey to the station.
Since 2009, astronauts have been able to post updates to social media and can keep regular contact with Earth.
And if they find themselves facing cabin fever, those onboard can go on spacewalks through airlocks that open to the outside.
As only six crew members are allowed onboard at a time, they are also responsible for maintaining and repairing the space station.
The ISS makes 16 orbits of earth every single day and astronauts can choose to float around, or attach themselves to a wall.
Thruster failures and helium links on Boeing’s new Starliner capsule mean Williams and Wilmore are staying in orbit longer than planned due to fears a trip back could end in disaster.
At a briefing, officials said that the Starliner was probably safe enough to fly the two home, but that decision would be made during a review.
The crew defied gravity to ‘run’ with the Olympic torch through the station
The team have been kept hard at work with ship maintenance, as only six are allowed on the ship at a time
The hammer throw in the ‘Olympics’ was made noticeably easier by the lack of gravity
The space agency and Boeing have repeatedly said that the astronauts are not stranded and that in case of an emergency they could fly home in Starliner.
But that has raised questions about why Williams and Wilmore can’t just fly home now, if the Boeing craft really is safe. The work being done on the Starliner is also being performed remotely – with no engineer sent to space to work on the actual craft itself.
NASA’s commercial crew program manager Steve Stich acknowledge that backup options are being reviewed, including SpaceX’s Dragon capsule.
The capsule blasted off from Florida atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket on June 5, with NASA saying a few hours later that the capsule had sprung two leaks.
While the capsule docked at the station on June 6, another leak was found and days later on June 10 another was spotted.
In addition to the helium leaks, five thrusters temporarily malfunctioned during the flight but four came back online, with the fifth being shut off.
If the spacecraft was to suffer another failure on the way back to Earth, the consequences could be catastrophic for its occupants.
The Starliner fiasco heaps fresh embarrassment on Boeing, whose commercial aviation department has been plagued by scandals and crashes.
Thruster failures and helium links on Boeing’s new Starliner capsule, seen here aboard a Atlas V rocket, has prompted NASA and Boeing to keep them in orbit for longer
Wilmore, left, and Williams pose for a portrait inside the vestibule between the forward port on the International Space Station’s Harmony module and Boeing’s Starliner
Veteran NASA astronauts Suni Williams (left) and commander Butch Wilmore (right) prior to departure on June 5
NASA astronauts Suni Williams (bottom left) and Butch Wilmore (bottom right) are seen here after safely arriving aboard the International Space Station
The crew has enough food rations for at least four months on the International Space Station
Earlier this year, a 737 MAX plane burst open while flying over Portland, with two other MAX jets crashing in 2018 and 2019, killing more than 300.
Boeing has been accused of putting profits before safety and has vowed to improve the quality of its products after the series of catastrophic failures.
Prior to the flight, Williams said that she was aware that the nature of the test flight meant that her and Wilmore might have to improvise.
She said: ‘We do anticipate everything’s going to go as planned. But if it doesn’t, we’ll take a moment and analyze it and talk about it, and we’ll be okay.
‘So our confidence in the mission is high. I’m not complaining that we’re here for a couple extra weeks.’
Boeing and NASA officials first noticed issues with the Starliner even before it took off with the astronauts earlier this month.
It has faced years of delays, setbacks and added expenses that have cost Boeing more than $1billion, CNN reports.
Starliner was then set to launch on May 6, but teams detected a valve leaking helium and scrubbed the mission.
Engineers suspected that the issue came from a defective rubber seal the size of a shirt button, and said that even if the leak worsens, it could be managed in flight – and set the next launch for June 1.
