Astronaut Sunita Williams revealed the consequences of perpetual weightlessness after she's been stuck in space since June.
The Massachusetts native is a retired U.S. Navy Officer and is one of the most experienced spacewalkers who returned to the International Space Station for the first crewed mission of the Boeing Starliner.
Her return back to Earth has been delayed until March 2025 at the earliest.
On Monday, Williams spoke with students at her alma mater, Needham High School, to share what it was like to spend months floating around in space.
When a student inquired about what microgravity feels like, the 59-year-old astronaut replied:
"I've been up here long enough right now I've been trying to remember what it's like to walk."
"I haven't walked. I haven't sat down. I haven't laid down. You don't have to."
"You can just close your eyes and float where you are right here," she added.
You can watch a clip here.
- YouTubeyoutu.be
Williams noted that she and fellow traveler astronaut Butch Wilmore had expected their deployment to last longer than eight days but didn't expect it was going to be delayed for months.
NASA delayed their return to Earth after technical difficulties with the Boeing Starliner's service module caused concern.
"It was a little bit of a shock, actually," Williams told students.
"We knew that it would be probably a month or so, honestly. But the extended stay was just a little bit different."
Due to the current situation, the astronauts have been busying themselves with various scientific experiments and maintenance tasks aboard the ISS while periodically sharing their life in space.
She and Wilmore are embarking on a 6.5-hour spacewalk on January 30 to maintain hardware and retrieve samples from the exterior of the ISS.
The live-streamed mission will be NASA's 274th walk.
Inspired social media users sent encouragement and wished Williams and Wilmore a safe return.
Williams and Wilmore are scheduled to land on terra firma after boarding SpaceX's Crew 9 mission later in March. If all goes well, the two astronauts will have spent 262 days experiencing zero gravity.
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