NASA flight surgeon: All astronauts on ISS still in good health
Science: Last week, media outlets like The New York Post and The Daily Mail claimed that International Space Station astronaut Suni Williams’ health was deteriorating — and today, (Nov. 13), similar speculations were made about her fellow ISS resident Butch Wilmore. In response to the claims about Williams, both NASA and Williams himself spoke out to confirm that he is fine. Now, in response to those rumors about Wilmore, NASA has responded once again.
“All NASA astronauts aboard the International Space Station are in good health,” Dr. J.D. Polk, chief health and medical officer at NASA Headquarters in Washington, told reporters in a statement provided via email on Nov. 13. “It is unfortunate that rumors to the contrary persist.” The speculation about Williams’ health appears to be based on recently released photos by the agency. Dr. Vinay Gupta, a pulmonologist unaffiliated with NASA, suggested to the Daily Mail that Williams’ cheeks appeared “sunken” in the photos and that this reflected a person who was “experiencing the natural stress of being at very high altitudes for long periods of time, even in a pressurized cabin.” Both this outlet, as well as The New York Post, specifically stated that Williams looked “skinny.” Yet, during a video interview Williams gave on the ISS on November 12, she said, “I’m still the same weight as I was when I got here.”
“I can definitely say that weight lifting, which is not something I do all the time, has definitely changed me,” Williams said, referring to certain mandatory exercises astronauts perform while living in microgravity conditions for long periods of time. “My thighs are a little bigger, my butt is a little bigger,” he said, though he also stressed: “My weight is the same as before.”
In regards to the speculation about Wilmore, The New York Post published an article today titled “NASA monitoring possible weight loss in second stranded astronaut after colleague Sunita Williams raised concerns about her health.” According to the outlet, an unnamed NASA employee “connected to the mission” said that Wilmore “is also losing body weight.” The source explicitly stated that, because Wilmore “weighed a lot more to begin with,” it “isn’t such a big deal.” In this article, The New York Post again stated that Williams looked “very skinny” in the photos released, and included a photo of Williams with a caption claiming that NASA is “working to help astronaut Sunita Williams gain weight after she reported significant weight loss.”
