Astronaut Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore who have been stranded in space for eight months now are set to return back to Earth next month. SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft will leave Earth on March 12, after a week’s journey it will bring back the astronauts on March 19.

The Crew-10 mission with four members will dock at the International Space Station (ISS) for a six-month stay. When the new space station commander takes charge, Sunita and Wilmore will head back home.

The biggest challenge the astronauts will face upon their return to Earth will be readjusting to Earth’s gravity. And then undergoing a rehabilitation program to gain strength and bone density. Within 24 hours of their landing, the astronauts will lose the sensation of ‘weightlessness’ they have grown while in space. Staying in microgravity conditions for an extended period causes significant risk to muscle atrophy and bone density loss. Astronauts lose up to 1% of their bone mass every month and the fluids in the body can cause “puffy faces” and thinner limbs. And when they shift back to normal upon return to Earth, it causes a temporary discomfort to the body.  

Butch Wilmore told CNN, “Gravity is really tough, and that’s what we feel when we get back. Gravity starts pulling everything to lower extremities; fluids will be pulled down, and even lifting a pencil will feel like workout.” Williams sounded similar, “It’s gonna be a little bit hard to adapt. It’s a day-for-day process when you get your fast twitch muscle action back.”

The astronauts are currently boarding the International Space Station (ISS) in Boeing’s starliner capsule since June last year which encountered some technical issues.

Last month Sunita had remarked, “It doesn’t feel like we are cast away. Eventually, we want to go home because we left our families a little while ago, but we have a lot to do while we are up here.”

The successful return of the astronauts will add another chapter to NASA’s space exploration mission. It also testifies and strengthens cooperation between NASA, SpaceX and boeing.