New Delhi:

Indian-origin NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, who has been in space since June, has put an end to swirling “rumours” about her health, saying she weighs the same as she did when she arrived at the International Space Station (ISS).

The “rumours” were sparked by recent images of her “gaunt” appearance, where she looked weaker and thinner after spending at least 150 days in space, triggering concerns of rapid weight loss.

“…I think my body has changed a little bit but I weigh the same…,” Williams, who is the Space Station Commander, told the media in a video interview that was shared by NASA.

“There are a lot of changes that go on here… It’s funny, I think there’s some rumours around that I am losing weight and stuff… No, I am actually right at the same amount… we go weigh ourselves, we have a spring mass… Butch and I weigh ourselves the same way that I was when I got up here,” she added.

Ms Williams and her fellow astronaut Barry (Butch) Willmore have been at the ISS for nearly five months. The duo had launched aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft on June 5 for its first crewed flight, and arrived at the space station on June 6. They, however, faced delays, space debris threats, helium leaks and technical glitches on the Starliner spacecraft on which they travelled.

On August 24, NASA said it’s too risky to bring the two astronauts back to Earth in the troubled new capsule, and they’ll have to wait until February for a ride home with SpaceX.

As Ms William’s images of “sunken cheeks” and a thinner physique surfaced, the astronaut said the change in appearance was due to a “fluid shift” in the body.

“I think things shift around quite a bit… you have a fluid shift where you know the folks in space… their heads look a bit bigger because the fluids even out along the body. But now, you know, we’ve been up here for a couple of months, we’ve been working out here. We’ve got a bike, we’ve got a treadmill and we’ve got weight-lifting equipment,” she said.

“I could definitely tell that weightlifting, which is not something that I do all the time, is something that has changed me. My thighs are a little bit bigger, my body is a little bit bigger, we do a lot of squats. And just to go back to the treadmill…why… It’s because we are working on our bone density in our hips and in our feet. So, I think my body has changed a little bit but I weigh the same…,” she added.

New Delhi:

Indian-Origin astronaut Sunita Williams has celebrated her 59th birthday — the second in space.

SunitaWilliams is currently stranded at the International Space Station (ISS) after Boeing’s faulty Starliner spacecraft was declared unfit for human travel by NASA. While Starliner is back on Earth unharmed, SunitaWilliams is expected to return on SpaceX’s capsule in February next year.

SunitaWilliams marked her 59th birthday aboard the ISS on September 19. She dedicated her day to vital maintenance tasks and scientific research on the orbiting lab.

Along with fellow astronaut Don Pettit, she worked on maintaining life support systems on the ISS.

The astronaut duo then replaced filters in the station’s waste and hygiene compartment — called the space bathroom.

The 59-year-old created history by becoming the first woman to fly on the maiden mission of the Starliner. The Starliner flight is SunitaWilliams’s third to space — the first being in 2006 and the second in 2012.

According to NASA, “Sunita has spent a cumulative total of 322 days in space”, and she is the second woman astronaut with the highest number of spacewalks.

On her birthday, Sunita Williams received a rendition of legendary singer Mohd Rafi’s birthday song ‘Bar bar din ye aaye’ from Indian music company Saregama.

In a post on Instagram, Saregama shared: “Come on India let’s sing #HappyBirthdaySunita along with India’s biggest icons and send our collective wishes to Astronaut Sunita Williams up in space. Use #HappyBirthdaySunita to post your videos and Tag @saregama_official”.

In the video shared along with the post, film director Karan Johar, and iconic singers Sonu Nigam, Shaan, Hariharan, and Neeti Mohan sang the song to wish her birthday.

The post also called for people to make videos wishing Sunita Williams and share them with #HappyBirthdaySunita.

Meanwhile, Sunita Williams is expected to cast her votes in the 2024 US presidential elections, scheduled for November 5, from space.

Originally slated for an eight-day mission, Sunita William’s stay in space has now stretched to eight months.

Commenting on being stuck in space, the Indian-origin astronaut in a recent video press conference said, “That’s how things go in this business.”

She added that the transition to station life was “not that hard” since both astronauts had prior experience on the ISS.

Reflecting on her extended mission, Sunita Williams shared, “This is my happy place. I love being up here in space.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Indian-Origin astronaut Sunita Williams has celebrated her 59th birthday — the second in space.

SunitaWilliams is currently stranded at the International Space Station (ISS) after Boeing’s faulty Starliner spacecraft was declared unfit for human travel by NASA. While Starliner is back on Earth unharmed, SunitaWilliams is expected to return on SpaceX’s capsule in February next year.

SunitaWilliams marked her 59th birthday aboard the ISS on September 19. She dedicated her day to vital maintenance tasks and scientific research on the orbiting lab.

Along with fellow astronaut Don Pettit, she worked on maintaining life support systems on the ISS.

The astronaut duo then replaced filters in the station’s waste and hygiene compartment — called the space bathroom.

The 59-year-old created history by becoming the first woman to fly on the maiden mission of the Starliner. The Starliner flight is SunitaWilliams’s third to space — the first being in 2006 and the second in 2012.

According to NASA, “Sunita has spent a cumulative total of 322 days in space”, and she is the second woman astronaut with the highest number of spacewalks.

On her birthday, Sunita Williams received a rendition of legendary singer Mohd Rafi’s birthday song ‘Bar bar din ye aaye’ from Indian music company Saregama.

In a post on Instagram, Saregama shared: “Come on India let’s sing #HappyBirthdaySunita along with India’s biggest icons and send our collective wishes to Astronaut Sunita Williams up in space. Use #HappyBirthdaySunita to post your videos and Tag @saregama_official”.

In the video shared along with the post, film director Karan Johar, and iconic singers Sonu Nigam, Shaan, Hariharan, and Neeti Mohan sang the song to wish her birthday.

The post also called for people to make videos wishing Sunita Williams and share them with #HappyBirthdaySunita.

Meanwhile, Sunita Williams is expected to cast her votes in the 2024 US presidential elections, scheduled for November 5, from space.

Originally slated for an eight-day mission, Sunita William’s stay in space has now stretched to eight months.

Commenting on being stuck in space, the Indian-origin astronaut in a recent video press conference said, “That’s how things go in this business.”

She added that the transition to station life was “not that hard” since both astronauts had prior experience on the ISS.

Reflecting on her extended mission, Sunita Williams shared, “This is my happy place. I love being up here in space.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)