Sunita Williams & others aboard ISS are in 'good health': NASA
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Washington DC: Following reports surfacing that astronaut Sunita William’s health is at risk at the International Space Station (ISS), NASA came up with a clarification that all the astronauts aboard the station are in ‘good health’, NDTV reported.
NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate (SOMD) told the Daily Mail that the astronauts aboard ISS undergo routine medical evaluations and are monitored by dedicated flight surgeons.
SOMD spokesperson Jimi Russel said that all astronauts are in good health.
NASA’s clarification came when media reports suggested that Williams is facing an acute health crisis after her prolonged stay on the ISS.
A picture of her having food goes viral on social media, and it shows Williams, who has lost a significant amount of weight.
A Seatle-based pulmonologist said that she looks “gaunt”. It looks like she is experiencing the natural stresses of living at a very high altitude for extended periods, the expert said.
“Her cheeks appear a bit sunken, and it usually happens when you've had total body weight loss. 'I think what I can discern by her face and her cheeks being sunken in is that she has probably been at a significant calorie deficit for a while,” NDTV quoted the doctor's words to Daily Mail.
Sunita Williams, along with astronaut Barry Wilmore, has been at the ISS since June. Originally, they boarded the space station for an eight-day mission, but their stay has now reached two months due to a Starliner spacecraft malfunction. They are expected to go home in February next year.
NDTV reported that a NASA astronaut was hospitalized on October 26 after returning from a nearly eight-month mission on the ISS. NASA had said that astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, Jeanette Epps, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin were flown together to Ascension Sacred Heart Pensacola in Florida, but after a medical evaluation, one of them was kept under observation as a precautionary measure. However, NASA did not reveal details of the astronauts, saying that the crew members' medical privacy must be protected.
The astronaut was released a day later, NASA informed us.