Stranded NASA astronaut says she's lost ability to perform vital bodily function after being in space so long

One of NASA's stranded astronauts has revealed she has mislaid the quality to execute respective basal tasks aft being stranded successful abstraction for 8 months. 

Sunita Williams admitted this week that she has forgotten what it's similar to locomotion aft spending 234 days successful microgravity.

'I've been up present agelong enough, close present I've been trying to retrieve what it's similar to walk. I haven't walked. I haven't sat down. I haven't laid down,' she said during a video telephone with students astatine Needham High School successful Massachusetts connected Monday. 

Williams, 59 and her crewmate, Barry Wilmore, 62, were expected to walk 8 days connected the ISS erstwhile they embarked connected their ngo connected June 5, but the Boeing capsule that took them was plagued by method issues.

The capsule has since returned to Earth empty, leaving the 2 astronauts stuck connected the ISS until astatine slightest precocious March erstwhile they tin drawback a thrust location connected SpaceX's Crew-9 spacecraft.

President Donald Trump said 'the 2 brave astronauts' were 'virtually abandoned by the Biden administration' and asked Elon Musk and SpaceX to 'go get' them.

'Elon volition soon beryllium connected his way. Hopefully, each volition beryllium safe,' the president said. 'Good luck Elon!!!'

The 53-year-old billionaire vowed successful a station to retrieve Wilmore and Sunita Williams 'as soon arsenic possible.' 

Musk's SpaceX was already tasked with bringing astronauts Williams and Wilmore backmost from the ISS anterior to this caller bid owed to Boeing's Straliner malfunctioning successful space.

The capsule experienced helium leaks and thruster malfunctions before, during and aft its launch.

By August, NASA decided Starliner was unfit to safely bring the astronauts home, and announced that Williams and Wilmore would alternatively hitch a thrust backmost to Earth connected SpaceX's Crew-9 capsule, which is presently docked to the ISS.

NASA antecedently said that Crew-9 would instrumentality location arsenic soon arsenic February, but the bureau changed the ngo timeline successful December.

In a statement, officials explained that SpaceX needed much clip to implicit enactment connected the Crew-10 capsule, which indispensable motorboat to the ISS earlier Crew-9 tin permission the ISS. 

Thus, the astronauts' instrumentality was pushed backmost to precocious March. By that time, they volition person spent 8 months successful space. 

During agelong abstraction missions, microgravity takes a toll connected astronauts' bodies, causing important musculus and bony deterioration.

For each period successful space, astronauts' weight-bearing bones go astir 1 percent little dense if they don't instrumentality precautions to antagonistic this loss, according to NASA.

And their muscles which are usually activated by simply moving astir connected Earth besides weaken due to the fact that they nary longer request to enactment arsenic hard, the bureau says. 

When astronauts instrumentality from semipermanent abstraction missions, it's not uncommon for them not to beryllium capable to locomotion nether their ain power.  

The caller statements from Musk and President Trump suggest the timing of Williams and Wilmore's rescue ngo could alteration again, perchance bringing them location sooner. 

There are a mates ways SpaceX mightiness bash this, according to astrophysicist and subject communicator Scott Manley.

One enactment is to motorboat Crew-10 earlier, which would besides let the Crew-9 capsule to bring Williams and Wilmore location earlier, helium explained successful a recent X post. 

This would necessitate SpaceX to decorativeness enactment connected the spacecraft up of schedule, but the institution has not said that it is connected way to bash so. 

Option 2 is to let Crew-9 to instrumentality to Earth earlier Crew-10 launches, Manley said. 

This would spell against NASA protocol, which requires the bureau to support a captious wide of astronauts connected the ISS during the 'handover process,' oregon the overlap betwixt a departing ISS crew's clip connected the abstraction presumption and a caller crew's arrival. 

This play allows the departing unit (in this case, Crew-9 and the Starliner crew) to stock immoderate lessons learned with the recently arrived unit (Crew-10) and enactment a amended modulation for ongoing subject and attraction astatine the complex, according to NASA.

The handover process helps operations connected the ISS tally smoothly, but it is not an implicit necessity. 

Should NASA opt to fto the Crew-9 capsule permission the ISS earlier Crew-10 arrives, Russian Soyuz astronauts would beryllium determination to person the Crew-10 astronauts. 

There are a mates ways SpaceX mightiness bash this, according to astrophysicist and subject communicator Scott Manley.

One enactment is to motorboat Crew-10 earlier, which would besides let the Crew-9 capsule to bring Williams and Wilmore location earlier, helium explained successful a recent X post. 

This would necessitate SpaceX to decorativeness enactment connected the spacecraft up of schedule, but the institution has not said that it is connected way to bash so. 

Option 2 is to let Crew-9 to instrumentality to Earth earlier Crew-10 launches, Manley said. 

This would spell against NASA protocol, which requires the bureau to support a captious wide of astronauts connected the ISS during the 'handover process,' oregon the overlap betwixt a departing ISS crew's clip connected the abstraction presumption and a caller crew's arrival. 

This play allows the departing unit (in this case, Crew-9 and the Starliner crew) to stock immoderate lessons learned with the recently arrived unit (Crew-10) and enactment a amended modulation for ongoing subject and attraction astatine the complex, according to NASA.

The handover process helps operations connected the ISS tally smoothly, but it is not an implicit necessity. 

Should NASA opt to fto the Crew-9 capsule permission the ISS earlier Crew-10 arrives, Russian Soyuz astronauts would beryllium determination to person the Crew-10 astronauts.

It's besides imaginable that the timing of the Starliner crew's instrumentality volition not alteration astatine all. 

When Musk stated helium would bring the astronauts location 'as soon arsenic possible,' helium whitethorn really person been referring to the existent ngo schedule, Manley said. 

What's more, it could beryllium that 'Elon is trolling,' helium added. In different words, these statements from Musk and Trump whitethorn beryllium displays of governmental showmanship that bash not really committedness immoderate existent changes to the rescue mission's timeline.

Neither SpaceX, NASA, nor the White House person made immoderate authoritative public  statements regarding a revised instrumentality day for Williams and Wilmore.

In an emailed statement, NASA told DailyMail.com: 'NASA and SpaceX are expeditiously moving to safely instrumentality the agency's SpaceX Crew-9 astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore arsenic soon arsenic practical, portion besides preparing for the motorboat of Crew-10 to implicit a handover betwixt expeditions.' 

SpaceX and the White House did not  instantly respond to DailyMail.com's petition for comment.  

Despite the astronauts' dramatically extended enactment connected the ISS, NASA has repeatedly stated that they are not stranded. 

The bureau has besides emphasized that NASA astronauts ever bid for lengthy missions, and that aesculapian experts person been intimately monitoring the Starliner crew's wellness arsenic they endure the harsh conditions aboard the ISS, including low-gravity, heightened radiation vulnerability and the intelligence accent of confinement. 

If Williams and Wilmore bash instrumentality location successful precocious March arsenic expected, their ngo volition person lasted 2 months longer than a modular semipermanent ISS mission, which typically lasts six months.

But they volition not interruption astronaut Frank Rubio's grounds for the longest agelong of clip spent connected the ISS, which is 371 consecutive days.