The idea of staying fit may seem like the last thing to worry about while floating more than 1.2 million feet above Earth, but it's exactly the opposite. Exercising is vital for astronauts who spend long periods of time in space. And for Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, whose eight-day Starliner Crew Flight Test mission ballooned into a nine-month stay at humanity’s farthest outpost, their fitness regime has taken a drastic turn.
With a week-long stay in mind, Wilmore and Williams were working out recreationally in space. But after their mission hit the three-week mark, they began an official fitness program prescribed by NASA doctors. Now that they won’t leave space until February 2025 at the earliest, that workout routine is even more important. Currently, they work out six times a week, for two and a half hours each session. They’ll likely continue this regimen until they come home, Stevan Gilmore, lead flight surgeon and deputy manager of space and occupational medicine at NASA, tells Inverse.
