Astronaut Barry “Butch” Wilmore is “doing good” but struggling with the effects of gravity after spending nine months in space, his daughter revealed. Daryn Wilmore provided an update on her father’s condition on Thursday, two days after a SpaceX capsule carrying Wilmore, 62, and fellow astronaut Sunita Williams, 59, splashed down off the coast of Florida.
Adapting to life back on Earth
Responding to a TikTok user’s inquiry, Daryn confirmed her father’s condition but acknowledged the difficulties of readjusting to gravity. “He’s doing good,” she assured, while also noting that the transition has been “rough.”
For astronauts returning from extended missions, one of the most significant challenges is adapting to life without microgravity. The weightlessness of space allows astronauts to float freely, but it also leads to muscle atrophy and bone density loss due to the lack of weight-bearing activity.
“Without Earth’s gravity affecting the human body, weight-bearing bones lose on average 1% to 1.5% of mineral density per month during spaceflight,” NASA explains. “Astronauts also lose muscle mass in microgravity faster than they would on Earth.”
A long-awaited homecoming
Wilmore and Williams’ return was initially delayed due to technical issues with their Boeing Starliner spacecraft, which was originally intended for a 10-day mission. The astronauts’ unexpected extended stay in space proved challenging for their families.
Daryn, a college sophomore, documented the experience on TikTok, keeping her followers updated throughout her father’s prolonged absence. In one of her February videos, she suggested that “negligence” contributed to her father’s prolonged stay in orbit.
“It’s less the fact that he’s up there sometimes; it’s more the fact of why,” she said. “There’s a lot of politics, there’s a lot of things that I’m not at liberty to say and that I don’t know fully about.”
Despite the challenges, Daryn said her family remained in “constant contact” with Wilmore during his extended mission.
Hollywood-worthy mission
After Wilmore’s return, Daryn posted the final installment of her TikTok saga, titled “My Dad is Stuck in Space,” celebrating his safe arrival back on Earth. “I’m so happy. I’m so proud,” she said in a video recorded just hours before his return.
She revealed plans to welcome him home with his favorite dessert, pecan pie, and compiled a list of activities to do together as he reacclimates to life on Earth. However, she acknowledged that he still has several days of medical evaluations and testing ahead, as NASA continues to monitor the long-term effects of extended space travel on the human body.
Before signing off, Daryn had one final thought: she believes her father’s journey deserves the Hollywood treatment.
“Hollywood, I think a movie should happen. I think a movie should happen. If you want to call me, I have ideas,” she said.
“‘Apollo 13,’ that’s a great movie. But do you know what could even be better? This movie right here.”