NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams may have made it back to Earth, but their bodies are still feeling the impact of nearly 10 months in space.
After a staggering 286 days aboard the International Space Station, the duo has just wrapped up an intense round of physical therapy—but the pain hasn’t let up.
The mission, originally set to last far less, turned into a high-stakes waiting game after Boeing's Starliner spacecraft failed to bring them home.
That left Wilmore, 62, and Williams, 59, stuck in orbit until NASA could arrange a rescue. They finally returned in March, but the real battle began after splashdown.
Physical therapy: Two hours a day, every day
Since returning, Wilmore and Williams have been grinding through at least two hours of strength and conditioning daily. Their main goals? Regain lost muscle mass, adjust to Earth’s gravity, and stop their bones from deteriorating further.
Despite the hard work, Wilmore admitted he’s still not fully healed.
"Gravity stinks for a period, and that period varies for different people," he told Reuters, candidly acknowledging the pain that lingers in his back.
His first public appearance after rehab, on May 22, showed a visibly thinner version of the astronaut, with facial changes that turned heads.
Fatigue, pain, and a brutal reentry to Earth life
Williams, too, struggled through recovery. The physical toll of zero gravity left her so depleted that getting out of bed became a major task.
"It's been a little bit of a whirlwind," she told Reuters, pointing to their ongoing work with NASA’s Commercial Crew Program and Boeing’s troubled Starliner mission.
She described months of disrupted sleep and extreme fatigue, revealing how long it took before she felt normal again.
"Then I'm up at four in the morning, and I'm like, Aha! I'm back," she recalled of her sudden shift back to her usual early bird routine.
Photos from their landing showed Williams looking noticeably greyer, a visual that shocked many. Thankfully, after weeks of rehabilitation, she’s regained her color and energy.
The mission that went wrong
Their long stay in space wasn’t part of the original plan. The duo launched in June 2024 as the first crew aboard the Boeing Starliner, but technical malfunctions grounded their return. They ended up waiting nearly a year for NASA to get a backup ride ready.
"I knew we were going to get home at some point in time. We just got to wait for the right ride and make sure everybody's all good with that and we'll get home," Williams told WFAA.
Even after landing off the coast of Florida, the pain didn’t let up. Wilmore recalled the discomfort hitting almost immediately.
"We're still floating in the capsule in the ocean, and my neck starts hurting, while we still hadn't even been extracted yet," he said.
"I still got a little twinge in one spot in my back after a couple of months."
Life in space isn’t all stars and science
It wasn’t just the physical stress. Wilmore admitted that the mental toll of being crammed in the ISS with three other people for nearly a year also took its toll.
"You're thrown together day and night seven days a week at 24 hours a day, and just like any family there's a point where something rubs you the wrong way or something—that happens anywhere," he said.
But overall, the tensions were "minor."
What’s next for Boeing and NASA?
As Wilmore and Williams settle back into life on Earth, the heat is on Boeing. NASA has insisted that Starliner must undergo a successful uncrewed mission before it's allowed to carry astronauts again.
Despite the high-profile failure, NASA has reaffirmed its commitment to the Starliner project, which has already cost $4.5 billion and has been bogged down by setbacks since its 2010 inception.
NASA emphasized the importance of having two operational launch systems, with SpaceX as the other.