California

The latest pictures of Sunita Williams from the International Space Station have raised concerns among some doctors, who think her health is taking a beating because of the prolonged stay in space. 

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Photos show Williams with hollow cheeks, as she seems to have undergone extreme weight loss. Notably, Williams and Butch Wilmore were only supposed to spend eight days on the ISS, but have been in space for more than 152 days now. 

The Boeing Starliner that took them to space developed several faults even before it was launched on June 5. As it docked, more problems occurred and NASA tried to fix them from Earth. However, nothing worked, and so it returned to Earth without its crew in September. Now, Williams and Wilmore are scheduled to fly back in February 2025. 

The photos show Williams observing the making of a pizza. Dr Vinay Gupta, a pulmonologist and veteran in Seattle, told Daily Mail that the picture raises concerns about the astronaut's health. 

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He said it looks like she is "experiencing the natural stresses of living at a very high altitude, even in a pressurized cabin, for extended periods."

Also Read: Spot a 'lonely' Earth and Moon in vast expanse of space captured by asteroid probe

"Her cheeks appear a bit sunken," said Dr Gupta which usually happens due to total body weight loss. He added that it appears Williams has been on a "significant calorie deficit".

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He added that Williams does not seem to have "sort of healthy body weight".

"There's just things that the human body cannot adjust to, and one of which is, you know, she's probably losing more calories than she's intaking."

Spaceflight affects women more 

Life in the harsh conditions of space take a toll on astronauts' health. The body faces the challenge of adjusting to changes in gravity and maintaining its temperature in the cold conditions. To prevent muscle and bone loss, they also exercise about 2.5 hours a day. All this adds up to them losing weight.

As per a study done by NASA in 2014, women are at a greater risk of their body breaking down. They face greater loss of blood plasma volume than men during spaceflight. As per another study done in 2023 by Ball University, they also lose more muscle than men.