Stranded astronauts will receive bones of 80-year-old man upon return

NASA Astronauts Stranded on International Space Station (ISS) They could have the “bones of an 80-year-old man when they land.”“One expert told The Sun,” he said.

NASA announced this week that Butch Wilmore, 61, and Suni Williams, 58, have traveled to the International Space Station for an eight-day mission, but they are unlikely to return to Earth before Christmas.

The duo traveled to the orbital outpost in Boeing’s Starliner as part of the capsule’s first crewed flight.

After a series of problems and delays before launch, the Starliner capsule was deemed unfit for re-entry.

Their short mission has now been unexpectedly extended by up to eight months, with a possible return in 2025.

Astronauts lose 1% to 2% of bone density for every month they spend in space, according to previous research from the University of Calgary in Canada, which can have devastating effects.

This is due to the weightlessness that takes the pressure off their feet when it comes to standing and walking.

Wilmore and Williams’ ages, 61 and 58, respectively, will affect them “badly,” said Kyle Zagrodzki, founder of OsteoStrong, a company that treats osteoporosis.

“They can have, in eight months in space, 10 to 20 years of bone loss even with exercise.”

“They could have the bones of a 75- to 80-year-old when they land, and that could be very damaging to them if they end up with a broken spine or hip,” he claimed.

Missions to the International Space Station typically last about six months, but sometimes astronauts are sent there on shorter missions.

Astronauts on longer missions, between four and seven months, are the slowest to recover, according to University of Calgary research co-authored by Dr. Stephen Boyd.

“The longer you spend in space, the more bone you lose,” Boyd said.

This is why most astronauts only go into space three or four times (if at all) in their careers, and why they are often transported from the capsule they landed in to Earth.

During a press conference on Wednesday, NASA officials said the return flight had not been confirmed, but that Starliner would be a contingency plan B.