NASA releases incredible new photos of astronauts emerging from secret medical tests – and they’ve already made major breakthrough

The first images of the stranded NASA astronauts after their triumphant return to Earth have been released.

NASA’s Johnson Space Center tweeted out pictures of Sunita ‘Suni’ Williams and Barry ‘Butch’ Wilmore emerging from an airplane in Houston just after 12am ET Wednesday.

In the photos, the duo were seen already making a surprising recovery from their nine-month ordeal – walking under their own power in normal gravity.

Experts had previously said that Williams and Wilmore would likely need to be stretchered or have medics assist them while they adjusted to being outside of a zero-gravity environment for the first time since June 2024.

The new images show Wilmore, now clean-shaven after sporting a beard in space, hugging his fellow NASA comrades in Houston.

Meanwhile, Williams was pictured shaking hands with NASA officials – but was noticeably frail and still had an IV drip in her arm to receive fluids.

It’s the first time the duo was photographed after their historic return Tuesday evening off the coast of Florida.

After recovery teams retrieved their SpaceX Dragon capsule from the Gulf of America (formerly the Gulf of Mexico), Williams, Wilmore, NASA’s Nick Hague, and Russia’s Aleksandr Gorbunov were taken for medical testing.

The new NASA images also captured Hague and Gorbunov’s return to the Johnson Space Center late last night.

The two astronauts arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) in the Crew-9 Dragon capsule in September.

Williams and Wilmore’s vessel, Boeing’s Starliner, barely reached the ISS after mechanical issues developed during the flight.

Starliner was sent back to Earth without a crew after NASA deemed it too risky to have Williams and Wilmore use the craft again. This made room for Hague and Gorbunov to arrive at ISS in the SpaceX capsule. 

SpaceX has been involved with every crewed mission to the station since the Commercial Crew Program began in 2015. The Starliner flight was Boeing’s first crewed mission to the ISS.

All four astronauts have been waiting for a replacement crew (Crew-10) since then, but mechanical issues and claims of political interference delayed a new mission from being launched. 

After Crew-10 arrived on board another SpaceX rocket on March 16, NASA and SpaceX worked on preparing the stranded astronauts for an expedited return to Earth.

Usually, the handoff between ISS crews lasts five days but Crew-9 was able to depart in two days – safely landing off the coast of Florida roughly 17 hours later.

The new images reveal what some may consider a stunning bounce back when it comes to the health of Crew-9.

Although NASA had personnel at the airport in Houston there to help all four of the astronauts balance themselves, it was clear Williams, Wilmore, Hague, and Gorbunov were all capable of standing and walking after their medical checks.

Danish adventurer and astronaut-in-training Per Wimmer said Williams and Wilmore may experience a few rough days once they landed back on Earth.

In an interview with Al Arabiya, Wimmer noted that their hearts won’t be used to pumping blood into the upper parts of their bodies – leading to dizziness and nausea when they first arrive on Earth.

He also warned that Williams and Wilmore could be a little ‘fragile’ because an astronaut’s muscles and bone structure can deteriorate while in zero gravity.

To his point, Williams did appear to be frail around her hands and wrists after the NASA veteran spent 286 days in orbit.

Some users on X also pointed out the apparent wasting issues the astronaut may have experienced since June.

‘Did Suni have bone loss?’ one person asked, replying to NASA’s tweet.

The astronauts are expected to continue undergoing medical tests over the next few days as they transition back to life on land.

However, NASA has not specifically disclosed all the details of what medical tests astronauts take once they return from a mission in space.