How do astronauts recoup after space stay? Premium

Post-flight rehabilitation for astronauts returning from space includes medical tests, physical therapy, and exercise routines for readjusting to gravity.

Early on March 19 (IST), a SpaceX capsule bearing astronauts Sunita Williams, Barry Wilmore, Aleksandr Gorbunov, and Nick Hague splashed down splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico. The four were returning from the International Space Station (ISS). Of them, Ms. Williams and Mr. Wilmore were wrapping up a nine-month stay on the ISS, which they reached in June last year onboard Boeing’s Starliner capsule. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) — which employs Mr. Hague, Ms. Williams, and Mr. Wilmore — has a regimen in place for the trio to help re-adapt to gravity (Mr. Gorbunov is from Russia’s Roscosmos).

Microgravity affects the body in many ways, including allowing fluids to flow more easily towards the brain, reducing muscle tension, and lowering bone density. Astronauts thus maintain a strict routine of exercises and dieting onboard the ISS, tailored among other things to help work the body and engage the brain. NASA and other space agencies have also crafted programmes to make sure astronauts don’t become stressed by their workload or by the confined space they’re forced to occupy for months at a time.

While more and more people have gone to space with each new decade, the data about the effects of spaceflight on their bodies and minds is insufficient to make proper conclusions. This is because the number of spacefaring individuals is still relatively small; human bodies differ on a variety of parameters; and missions have different spaceflight profiles. There are also indications that extended spaceflight can affect parts of male and female bodies differently, but researchers have said they don’t yet have enough data to confirm.

In 2024, NASA’s Office of the Chief Health and Medical Officer released revised standards specifying the medical tests and checkups astronauts must undergo before, during, and after spaceflight. The standards also say how astronauts should be treated once they return to earth after short (less than 30 days) and long (more than 30 days) missions. In long-duration missions, astronauts are required to evaluate themselves two weeks, three months, six months, and nine months after launch and submit their reports to the crew medical officer. There are private medical conferences every day for the first week, then once a week, and before and after spacewalks.

There are also hearing and ocular assessments every three months. Body mass is measured a week after launch, then monthly. Each astronaut’s blood and urine is tested six months after launch and as and when clinically indicated, and they are screened for deep-vein thrombosis and blood-flow anomalies one and two months after launch as well as 42 days before the return flight.

The astronauts are monitored for their strength and exposure to radiation as well.

Once the four splashed down on March 19 and were retrieved, they would have started their post-flight rehabilitation guided by medical tests and physical activity. According to NASA, “Post-flight reconditioning is unique for each astronaut and varies by individual. While most crew members reach their pre-flight fitness baseline within the first 45 days of returning to earth, it is not uncommon for NASA to extend reconditioning programmes to meet an astronaut’s specific needs and the pace of recovery.”