Astronauts headed back to Earth can say goodbye to blurry eyes, puffy faces, ‘chicken legs’ and a little extra height

Astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Suni Williams are on their way back to Earth after nearly nine months in space and will soon be readjusting to life with gravity.

Astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Suni Williams are on their way back to Earth after nearly nine months in space and will soon be readjusting to life with gravity. Down to their DNA, astronauts’ bodies can change in weird and sometimes significant ways while high above Earth: They start to elongate, often developing a taller “space height,” and because human bodies are mostly liquid, redistribution of fluids may also give them “chicken legs” and a “puffy head.” Once they’re back, that all starts to return to normal. NASA doctors spoke to the two just before they started their journey home, and they said they’re doing “really well” health-wise, Dr. Joe Dervay, one of NASA’s flight surgeons, told CNN. Scientists are still figuring out the long-term health effects of spending a lot of time in space, but decades of data show that astronauts undergo physical changes after even a brief period. Most of those changes will reverse themselves shortly after they return to Earth. “There is some individual variability on how quickly they recover, but it is pretty impressive to see how they will turn the corner and really adapt quickly,” Dervay said. “Oftentimes, if you look at them a couple days later, you really have no idea what they’ve just done for the last several months.” Microgravity is behind many of the changes that astronauts can experience.