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How will Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore survive in space till 2025? Details
Astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore's eight day stint has turned into an indefinite stay till 2025, changing life at the international Space Station.
Astronaut Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore arrived at the International Space Station aboard Boeing's new Starliner in June.
However, the flight suffered helium leaks and thruster failures before docking, postponing the return flight for the two astronauts into 2025.
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Boeing insisted the astronauts were not stuck and said "there's no increased risk" in bringing them back in the Starliner, but the NASA is contemplating getting them back on a SpaceX flight instead.
Their eight-day stay has turned into more than two months, and the earliest they could leave is February 2025.
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While they are said to have enough supplies in the space station, here's a look at how the astronauts will survive.
Facilities in space
The International Space Station is as big as an American football field, 356ft from one end to another.
It has six sleeping quarters, two bathrooms, a gym, and a 360-degree view bay window. Apart from Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore, seven other astronauts are present there currently.
The space station has its own oxygen-generating systems, and around 50% of oxygen exhaled from carbon dioxide is restored. There is also a recycling system turning urine or moisture from sweat into water.
Dehydrated and ready to eat meals created at NASA's Space Food Systems Laboratory in Houston are available.
In a video on NASA's YouTube channel, Sunita Williams shows her favourite snack on the station is a jar of Nutter Butter spread sent by her family.
Their last supply run arrived on August 6, launched from a rocket in Kazakhstan on May 30. Crews can even make specific orders to Mission Control. On August 6 Williams and Wilmore finally got their own clothes at the space station.
In a video in 2012, Sunita Williams also introduced the toilet system at the space station. Astronauts have two separate pipes with a suction function for urine and feces.
While one could sleep on any flat surface in space, astronauts have small phone-booth sized pods with sleeping bags and a pillow.
Williams and Wilmore's situation now
In their one and only press conference in July, after reaching the space station, the two astronauts assured people they were keeping busy, helping with repairs and research, and expressed confidence Starliner's tests.
"I have a real good feeling in my heart that the spacecraft will bring us home, no problem," Sunita Williams said.
Wilmore also echoed the same, "We trust that the tests that we're doing are the ones we need to do to get the right answers, to give us the data that we need to come back."
