After a months-long wait, SpaceX and NASA have launched a mission to bring back US astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore from the International Space Station (ISS).
Williams and Wilmore have been stuck aboard the space station for nine months now. They were on a mission that was supposed to last for only about a week.
The lift-off of the mission to bring back the astronauts took place at 7:03 ET on Friday, with a Falcon 9 rocket carrying a Dragon spacecraft on the Crew-10 mission.
While the whole world awaits the astronauts’ return after nine months, experts say it won’t be easy for them to adapt to the earth’s ways.
Sunita Williams, Butch Wilmore may get ‘baby feet’
When astronauts return to the earth, they typically face a number of physiological issues primarily due to being exposed to prolonged periods of weightlessness.
One of the lesser-known effects of staying in the space for long time is the development of ‘baby feet’.
According to experts, Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore may experience this issue once they return to earth.
What is ‘baby feet’? Why does it happen?
Speaking to NewsNation Prime, Leroy Chiao, a former NASA astronaut explained that astronauts may experience ‘baby feet’ after being in space for longer periods of time.
“You basically lose the thick part of your skin,” Chiao said, adding that the weightlessness in space causes foot callouses to diminish.
Baby feet describes the hypersensitivity and the softeness that astronauts may experience in the soles of their feet after being exposed to long periods of weightlessness.
This happens due to the lack of pressure astronauts apply on their feet when they are in space, as they use their hands to move around and float to get their tasks done. There is no pressure on the soles, which changes the texture of it.
The thickened skin on the soles give way to smoother skin due to lack of friction and pressure. On earth, astronauts however have to use their feet to walk around and this may cause significant discomfort.
Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore have been stuck aboard the ISS since June after the Boeing Starliner spacecraft they were testing on its maiden crewed voyage suffered propulsion issues and was deemed unfit to fly them back.
