{"id":24395,"date":"2025-03-19T15:13:32","date_gmt":"2025-03-19T15:13:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/?p=24395"},"modified":"2025-03-19T15:13:32","modified_gmt":"2025-03-19T15:13:32","slug":"why-stranded-nasa-astronauts-were-carried-away-in-stretchers-immediately-after-returning-to-earth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/?p=24395","title":{"rendered":"Why \u2018stranded\u2019 NASA astronauts were carried away in stretchers immediately after returning to Earth"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

‘Stranded’ NASA astronauts Sunita ‘Suni’ Williams and Barry ‘Butch’ Wilmore finally touched down yesterday (18 March) after more than nine months in space.<\/p>\n

The pair were only meant to be on the International\u00a0Space<\/a>\u00a0Station for eight days when they left Earth on 5 June last year, but were\u00a0forced to prolong their stay<\/a>\u00a0when their faulty Boeing Starliner capsule suffered helium leaks and a thruster malfunction. I\u00a0hate\u00a0<\/em>it when that happens.<\/p>\n

Thankfully, their relief crew arrived to take over on Sunday (16 March), meaning they could head home after a casual 286 days in space – 278 days longer than anticipated when they launched.<\/p>\n

When their capsule was opened, both\u00a0Williams and Wilmore<\/a>\u00a0were carried out of the spacecraft and placed on stretchers, despite the fact neither was suffering any\u00a0injury or illness<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"Butch\"Butch<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Butch Wilmore returns to Earth (Keegan Barber\/NASA via Getty Images)<\/cite><\/div>\n

According to experts, this is simply protocol for any astronauts returning to Earth from space.<\/p>\n

John DeWitt, director of applied sports science at Rice University in Texas – and a former senior scientist at NASA\u2019s Johnson Space Center –\u00a0told<\/a>\u00a0LiveScience: “A lot of them don’t want to be brought out on a stretcher, but they’re told they have to be.”<\/p>\n

When astronauts touch down, they aren\u2019t allowed to walk immediately due to temporary changes that happen in space; being stretchered away is simply part of\u00a0NASA\u2019s<\/a>\u00a0strict safety procedures.<\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

This is because people sometimes experience dizziness and nausea when they travel home, similar to how some suffer motion sickness on a roller coaster or boat.<\/p>\n

Our bodies are hard-wired to take advantage of gravity, but that obviously becomes difficult in a space habitat like the ISS and means astronauts are forced to adapt to an entirely new environment.<\/p>\n

However, then they return to Earth – and gravity – they have to readjust all over again, which DeWitt said causes \u2018space motion sickness\u2019.<\/p>\n

Prolonged periods in space can also lead to gradual\u00a0muscle and bone density loss<\/a>, as astronauts don\u2019t need to use their muscles as much as we do on Earth.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"The\"The<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The duo ended up in space for nine months (Joe Raedle\/Getty Images)<\/cite><\/div>\n

To counter this, astronauts have onboard equipment so that they can follow a daily exercise regime.<\/p>\n

Williams told DeWitt via email: “Been working out for the past nine months.<\/p>\n

“We feel strong and ready to tackle Earth’s gravity.”<\/p>\n

DeWitt added: “They’re in good spirits and feel very confident that there’s not going to be any major issues because of being on the space station so long from a physiological perspective.<\/p>\n

“They’re getting exactly what they would have gotten had their trip been planned to be nine months.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    ‘Stranded’ NASA astronauts Sunita ‘Suni’ Williams and Barry ‘Butch’ Wilmore finally touched down yesterday (18 March) after more than nine months in space. The pair were only meant … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24396,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24395","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24395","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24395"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24395\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24397,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24395\/revisions\/24397"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/24396"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24395"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24395"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}