DNA damage equal to a daily pack of cigs and frail bones due to lack of gravity: If astronaut Suni Williams looks likes she’s aged a decade after spending 288 days in space – that’s probably because she has!
We’ve all looked in the mirror and bemoaned the effects of gravity on our droopy bits. But it turns out that nine months without it will wreak havoc on your appearance, too.
When Nasa astronaut Sunita ‘Suni’ Williams, 59, returned to Earth this week, after being stranded in space for 288 days, the changes to her appearance were startling.
She seemed to have aged a decade in less than a year. And biologically speaking, she might have.
Because it turns out that spending months in orbit has shocking effects on both your body and brain, akin to extreme ageing.
Williams’s record-breaking, unplanned extended stay in space – the voyage was supposed to take eight days – is not only a glimpse into what would happen to all of us if we had to last nine months without our hair appointments, health regimes or beauty products (imagine!), she is also a case study in the brutal toll of a space mission.
Enough stress to turn hair grey
When Williams left Earth back in June, she was widely known for her long, flowing chestnut hair.
Donald Trump even referred to her as ‘the woman with the wild hair’ when he announced efforts to bring her and fellow astronaut Butch Wilmore back to Earth.
When Nasa astronaut Sunita ‘Suni’ Williams, 59, returned to Earth this week, after being stranded in space for 288 days, the changes to her appearance were startling
Williams on the Space Station. It turns out that spending months in orbit has shocking effects on both your body and brain, akin to extreme ageing
Butch Wilmore (right) and Suni Williams in June 2024. Their trip to space was supposed to take eight days
But when she splashed down off the coast of Florida this week in a SpaceX Dragon capsule, the hair that was visible through her helmet had gone entirely white.
Anyone who was forced to skip their regular colourist appointments during the pandemic can empathise.
However, this dramatic change might be more than just going nine months without a root touch-up.
In 2020, a study found that stress can turn hair white, as adrenaline and cortisol speeds up the depletion of stem cells that produce melanin in hair follicles.
In pictures and videos from her time stuck on the International Space Station (ISS), Williams always wore her hair down or loosely tied.
This is because microgravity shifts bodily fluids upwards, leading to increased pressure in the scalp.
Astronauts also have limited access to water, so they wash their hair in foil-and-plastic water bags with rinseless shampoos. Having loose hair allows for better aeration, reducing the chances of clogged follicles, dandruff or bacterial growth.
Frailty from lack of sun and gravity
In 2007, Williams became the first person to run a marathon in space, when she completed the Boston Marathon while on a treadmill aboard the ISS.
When Williams left Earth back in June, she was widely known for her long, flowing chestnut hair
When she splashed down off the coast of Florida this week in a SpaceX Dragon capsule, the hair that was visible through her helmet had gone entirely white
Wilmore is helped out of a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft after spending 288 days stranded in space
Despite the ability – and indeed necessity – to exercise in space, Williams still looked noticeably frail when she came back to earth. Astronauts lose muscle mass rapidly because they do not use their legs, hips and spine to support their weight.
Their bones become fragile and they lose 1 per cent of their bone mass per month – equivalent to an entire year of ageing on Earth.
The bones also take a hit because astronauts don’t get any vitamin D from sunlight. As the ISS flies above the Earth’s ozone layer, it is shielded from all kinds of ultra-violet light.
Although the astronauts take vitamin D supplements, their weightless bodies don’t prioritise bone maintenance.
Nasa advises its astronauts to exercise for 2.5 hours every day to counteract this bone and muscle atrophy, which is similar to the effects of being bed-ridden. Yet research has shown that a 30- to 50-year-old astronaut who spends six months in space loses about half their strength.
The tricky ‘chicken legs’ phenomenon
Being in space also makes your heart weaker because it doesn’t have to pump blood against gravity, so it doesn’t work as hard.
Cardiac arrhythmias are therefore quite common among astronauts. In space, your blood volume decreases, and the way your blood flows changes – it slows in some areas, which can lead to clots.
Wilmore and WIlliams inside the International Space Station. Perhaps the most dangerous impact of extended stays in space is being exposed to radiation, which can increase the risk of developing conditions such as several cancers and Alzheimer’s
Some astronauts experience a condition known as Spaceflight Venous Thrombosis.
Fluids also don’t come down, or drain as easily, which can make your face puffy.
Meanwhile, legs and feet lose mass and appear thinner as they lose fluid – a phenomenon known as ‘chicken legs’.
Williams and Wilmore were stretchered off their capsules, and most astronauts struggle to walk on their return to Earth.
Their skeletons and muscles are weaker than before, and the blood flow changes can make them feel dizzy, with no sense of balance.
Gaunt from the zero-gravity diet
Williams looks noticeably more gaunt than she did before she went into orbit. Astronauts tend to eat less in space because of nausea or lack of appetite.
No doubt, ‘Space Food’ –rehydratable packaged soups and casseroles – isn’t that appealing. Most astronauts lose about 5 per cent of their body fat when they touch back down to Earth, and none of them are doing missions as long as Williams’s.
Although losing a few pounds might sound ideal, it can be a real concern for super-fit astronauts who don’t have excess weight.
Pictures of Williams with hollow cheeks while she was stranded in space caused concern. But in an interview in November, Williams insisted: ‘I’m the same weight that I was when I got up here.’
Williams looks noticeably more gaunt than she did before she went into orbit. Astronauts tend to eat less in space because of nausea or lack of appetite
Williams still looked noticeably frail when she came back to earth. Astronauts lose muscle mass rapidly because they do not use their legs, hips and spine to support their weight
Fatigue caused by 16 sunrises a day
On the ISS, an astronaut sleeps in a space the size of a phone booth, in a sleeping bag tethered to the wall.
They wear earplugs to combat the noise of the pumps and fans which constantly control the humidity, heat and carbon dioxide levels of the ISS.
The astronauts also wear face masks to combat the bright lights produced by 16 sunrises a day.
It’s not surprising that many astronauts suffer from sleep deprivation and after nine months of poor sleep Williams will have experienced the brutal toll that cumulative fatigue takes on her immunity levels, memory function, blood pressure and appearance.
DNA Damage akin to heavy smoking
Perhaps the most dangerous impact of extended stays in space is being exposed to radiation, which can increase the risk of developing conditions such as several cancers and Alzheimer’s.
The Earth’s atmosphere and magnetic field shield us from high levels of radiation – but in space, astronauts don’t have that protection.
An astronaut on a mission lasting six months or longer will receive more than ten times the radiation that naturally occurs on Earth.
Studies on astronauts returning to earth have shown their DNA-repair systems have been working overtime.
In 2007, Williams became the first person to run a marathon in space, when she completed the Boston Marathon while on a treadmill aboard the ISS
Williams floating in space. It’s not surprising that many astronauts suffer from sleep deprivation and after nine months of poor sleep Williams will have experienced the brutal toll that cumulative fatigue has on the body
‘The level of change that we see is the same that you’d see in someone who is smoking a pack of cigarettes a day,’ explains Scott M. Smith, who is a nutrition scientist at Nasa’s Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston.
How being in orbit affects your skin
Of course, Williams probably didn’t pack a multi-step moisturising regime for her short voyage which unexpectedly turned into a space odyssey.
And being in orbit for so long will have had a noticeable effect on her skin.
One team of researchers found that an astronaut’s epidermis becomes nearly 20 per cent thinner in space, perhaps due to low gravity, which may harm the skin’s ability to grow and repair itself. Because it’s so thin, the skin is more prone to cuts, which take longer to heal.
Skin rashes are also frequently reported during six-month ISS missions, possibly due to irritants or allergens in the space station, or the weakening effect low gravity has on the immune system.
But if Williams’s skin is thinner and more damaged, it is at least extremely soft. Because astronaut’s clothing floats off their skin, its texture can become almost baby-like.
High likelihood of Spaceflight Sightloss
The SpaceX Dragon Freedom spacecraft as it splashed down off the coast of Tallahassee in Florida
For many of us, needing glasses is a tell-tale sign that we’re heading into middle-age.
A trip to space accelerates this. The pooling of fluid in the body can change the shape of astronauts’ eyeballs and weaken their vision, potentially forever.
As pressure builds up in the head it presses on the eyes and on the optical nerves causing something called Spaceflight Associated Neuro-Ocular Syndrome.
The longer the astronaut spends in space, the greater the risk of vision damage – which will be particularly relevant to Williams.
Radiation also increases the risk of cataracts. Astronauts also report a feeling of congestion and a reduced sense of smell – although this might be a blessing given space stations are said to smell disgusting. Did we mention the lack of showers?
Why Dehydration is a massive problem
We all know how parched we feel after a long-haul flight, so imagine what nine months in space does to your hydration levels. Most astronauts lose about 20 per cent of their body fluids in space.
Because the fluids in the body shift towards the head with microgravity, astronauts’ bodies think they have too much fluid in them and try to get rid of excess water. This is why astronauts are advised to drink more in space.
From left to right: NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore, Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, and NASA astronauts Nick Hague and Suni Williams inside the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft
Although the water they drink is recycled from sweat and exhaled breath – collected as condensation on the ISS’s walls.
The recovery period and normal life
Williams and Wilmore will now undergo a 45-day rehabilitation programme that requires them to exercise for two hours per day, seven days per week.
Even walking will take practice as they re-adjust to gravity.
While not all the extreme ageing can be reversed – bone density during space travel means a greater risk of skeletal issues for life, and Williams will be particularly at risk as women lose bone density with age – after six months, most of the changes she experienced will have been reversed, and she will be able to resume her normal life.
Once she’s come down from the high of being the first person – male or female – to ever run a marathon in space, we’re guessing Williams will be keen to make that hair appointment.
