Starliner astronauts are healthy and not losing weight, NASA says

NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test astronauts (from top) Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams inside the vestibule between the forward port on the International Space Station’s Harmony module and the Starliner spacecraft. NASA

Following tabloid speculation that two of its astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) are losing a concerning amount of weight, NASA has emphasized that all the crew members currently on board the station are in good health.

Since last week, several tabloids have run stories expressing concern that NASA’s Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore were looking “gaunt” and could be losing too much weight during their stay on the ISS. However, both the astronauts in question and NASA medical staff have denied that this is the case. Williams has commented on the rumors during video interviews, saying that she is the same weight now as when she first arrived on the station.

She did discuss how her body has changed during her stay ,though, particularly due to the strength training which is a regular part of astronaut life. Astronauts exercise for around an hour per day, with particular focus on weightlifting to counteract the muscle atrophy caused by living in microgravity.

“I could definitely tell that weightlifting, which is not something that I do all the time, has definitely changed me,” Williams said. “My thighs are a little bit bigger, my butt is a little bit bigger.” But she did also refute claims that she had lost weight or was unhealthy.

Further tabloid coverage suggested that Wilmore, a former linebacker, could also be losing weight. In response, NASA’s chief health and medical officer, James D. Polk, has confirmed to both space.com and the New York Times that the astronauts are healthy. “All NASA astronauts aboard the International Space Station undergo routine medical evaluations, have dedicated flight surgeons monitoring them, and are in good health,” the agency said in a statement.

“The crew is in absolutely outstanding health,” Polk said. “And they’re not having any weight loss, and there’s no concern on any individual crew member.”

As well as changes in body composition due to their exercise regime, astronauts also experience a range of other bodily changes in space. In the absence of gravity, fluids tend to pool in the upper part of the body, giving some astronauts a “puffy face” appearance. Others do have issues with appetite due to nausea, or the monotony of eating the same foods regularly with only occasional fresh produce. However, there is no current indication that Williams or Wilmore are experiencing these issues more than is typical, or to a concerning degree.

Williams and Wilmore have been the focus of particular interest as they flew on the first crewed test flight of the Boeing Starliner spacecraft, which eventually returned to Earth without them following issues with its thrusters. The two have been on the station since June and will stay until February next year, when they will travel home on a SpaceX Dragon craft along with two other members of Crew-9.