"All that's left is skin and bones." NASA has provided new details about the condition of the astronaut stuck on the ISS

NASA has provided new details about the health of Sunita Williams, who is stuck on the International Space Station (ISS). The latest photos clearly show that the 59-year-old astronaut is "down to skin and bones."

NASA doctors are desperately trying to help Williams gain weight. After an unplanned 155 days in space, Sunita has suffered "significant" weight loss, the New York Post reports.

"She lost a lot of weight. Her pounds have melted away, and now she's down to skin and bones. So the priority is to help her stabilize her weight loss and hopefully put it back on," a NASA official said.

Due to changes in their metabolism, astronauts must consume twice as many calories daily as people on Earth need. "They have to consume about 3,500 to 4,000 calories a day to maintain their weight. However, when they start eating less, their weight drops rapidly," the space agency official explained.

According to a NASA source, Sunita Williams weighed approximately 63.5 kilograms at the beginning of the mission. So, to gain her usual weight, Williams must consume up to 5000 calories daily. For comparison, a woman on Earth needs about 1600 to 2400 calories to maintain her weight.

According to experts, in order to maintain muscle mass and bone density in a zero-g environment, astronauts must exercise for more than two hours daily, which also burns calories.

Sunita Williams is known to be an avid runner. She became the first person to run a marathon in space on a treadmill in 2007, along with the Boston Marathoners via an online broadcast.

NASA doctors began working with Williams about a month ago to help her gain weight. That is, even before the viral images that went viral online sparked global concern about her health, experts said.

A 2023 NASA study found that female astronauts lose muscle faster than their male counterparts.

However, NASA said there was nothing to worry about and that they were not overly concerned about Williams' weight loss. "All NASA astronauts aboard the International Space Station undergo regular medical examinations. They are monitored by specialized flight surgeons, and they are healthy," the agency assured.

As a reminder, Sunita 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 home is scheduled for February 2015.

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