The wife of NASA astronaut Barry Wilmore has offered an intimate look at life with her husband after he was stranded in space for 286 days.
Wilmore and his crewmate Sunita Williams returned to Earth last week, following more than nine months on the International Space Station (ISS).
Since he returned, Deanna Wilmore has noticed a change in her husband.
‘Barry does say gravity is not his friend right now. And you know the stamina is not there, and so they do have to rest and relax quite a bit because they’re just not strong yet,’ she said.
Spending that much time in low gravity wreaks havoc on the human body, causing significant muscle and bone loss among other health issues.
This is typical for astronauts who complete long-term ISS missions. But because Williams and Wilmore were in space for three months longer than a standard mission, their road to recovery could be particularly long, doctors have told DailyMail.com.
Wilmore, Deanna and their two daughters, Daryn and Logan, were reunited hours after he splashed down on March 18 off the coast of Florida.
Daryn, 19, shared online that her father is ‘doing good, it’s rough, but he’s a trooper.’
Barry Wilmore’s wife, Deanna Wilmore (R), said her husband has mostly been resting ever since he returned from his extended space mission on March 18
Williams and Wilmore were only supposed to spend eight days on the ISS when they launched aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft in June.
But technical issues with their ship ultimately left them stuck up there for more than nine months.
When the Starliner crew finally splashed down off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida inside a SpaceX Dragon capsule on March 18, they could hardly lift their arms — let alone walk — under the punishing weight of Earth’s gravity.
Since coming home, Wilmore has mostly been resting and spending lots of time on the couch watching March Madness, Deanna told local Tennessee news station WVLT 8.
Last Tuesday, his wife and daughters got to watch from mission control as the Dragon capsule returned to Earth.
When the family finally reunited with Wilmore, Deanna said there was ‘not a lot of talking, just a lot of hugging and enjoying the moment.’
During the nine months that he was stuck on the ISS, he missed birthdays, his 30-year wedding anniversary and Christmas.
But fortunately, he made it back in time to attend Logan’s high school graduation in about a month, and the family is discussing taking a trip this summer to celebrate.
NASA Astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore (pictured) splashed down off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida on Tuesday, marking an end to their 286-day space mission
Though Wilmore’s mission has come to an end, he still faces a long road to recovery due to the impact that living in low gravity had on his body.
Both he and Williams may have lost up to half of their muscle mass while on the ISS, and almost a fifth of their bone density.
Former astronauts have found that it can take up to 1.5 times the length of the mission to recover. That means the pair may need more than a year of physical therapy before they feel entirely themselves again.
Dr Ehsan Jazini, spine surgeon at VSI, previously told DailyMail.com that their rehab program will likely include progressive core and spinal stabilization exercises, stretching and mobility work, slow reintroduction to high-impact activities and monitoring for signs of herniation or chronic pain issues.
‘NASA’s medical teams are well-equipped to handle this, but given the length of their mission, a longer recovery timeline should be expected,’ he said.
‘Just like I tell my patients, they’ll need a lot of patience and consistency in the rehabilitation process.’
Williams (pictured) and Wilmore were helped onto stretchers by NASA’s medical crew. This is standard practice for astronauts returning from long-term ISS missions
After splashdown, Williams and Wilmore were helped onto stretchers and wheeled away for medical checks, which is standard procedure for astronauts returning from long-term space missions.
They then hopped on a flight to NASA’s Johnson Space Station in Houston, Texas. Photos of the astronauts taken after they arrived showed them up and walking.
Experts suggested that the fact that Williams and Wilmore were already walking less than 24 hours after returning is promising — some had feared they may not regain that ability for days.
But doctors raised concerns about an image of Williams that showed her looking noticeably frail.
The medical experts pointed to Williams’ ‘visibly thin’ wrists, which they said could be a sign of rapid weight loss, muscle wasting and bone deterioration.
The experts also noted that the IVs sticking out of both astronauts’ wrists were ‘most likely’ to help restore hydration and electrolytes, as microgravity tricks the body into eliminating necessary fluids, causing dehydration.
Like all astronauts, Williams and Wilmore exercised for at least two hours per day while on the ISS to reduce bone and muscle loss.
But the longer the human body stays in space, the harder it can be to recover from this damage once they return to Earth.
‘Even with pre-landing conditioning practices, their return to gravity is still a major adjustment to their spine, as nothing fully replicates that sudden shift back to Earth’s gravity,’ Dr Jazini said.
This article was originally published by a www.dailymail.co.uk . Read the Original article here. .