NASA astronaut stuck on the ISS confused doctors with her appearance in a recent photo from space

A doctor has expressed concern about the health of 59-year-old Sunita Williams, who is stuck on the International Space Station (ISS). The NASA astronaut shared recent photos of herself looking very thin.

Williams and her fellow astronaut Barry Wilmore were stuck in space for 9 months instead of 8 days because a faulty Boeing Starliner spacecraft failed to deliver them to Earth on time. Their return is scheduled for February 2015, DailyMail reports.

While both astronauts have spoken positively about their time on the ISS in their public comments and interviews, the recently released photo suggests otherwise, says pulmonologist  Vinay Gupta.

"What you see in this picture is a person who I think is experiencing the natural stress of living at a very high altitude, in a pressurized cabin, for a long time. His cheeks look hollow. This usually happens when you have a general loss of body weight. She was probably experiencing a significant caloric deficit for some time," said Dr. Gupta.

Scientists note that the body burns more calories in space because it adapts to changes in gravity and tries to maintain body temperature in cold, harsh conditions. To prevent muscle loss and bone deformation, astronauts exercise about 2.5 hours a day, which burns more calories.

However, in the published photo, it does not look like Sunita Williams has no food to eat. On the contrary, she and her colleagues are preparing a pizza with pepperoni, chips, and other delicacies.

"Given what I see in the photo, I don't think she's in a place where her life is in danger. But I don't think you can tell from looking at this photo that she is at a healthy weight," the doctor said.

Astronauts are advised to consume up to 3,500 calories a day while in space to prevent the body from breaking down. "Your metabolism in space fundamentally requires you to burn much more energy than you consume, even if you eat slices of pepperoni. This astronaut's body is probably working harder to do basic things because the partial pressure of oxygen is lower than at sea level,"  Vinay Gupta added.

Last week, the entire NASA crew was hospitalized after spending more than 200 days on the ISS.

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