What is the mental toll of spending months in space?

THE LONGEST EIGHT DAYS BUTCH WILMORE AND SUNI Williams ever spent lasted more than nine months.

- JEFFREY KLUGER

On June 5, 2024, the two NASA astronauts boarded the maiden mission of Boeing’s new Starliner spacecraft for what was supposed to be a short shakedown cruise to the International Space Station (ISS), before turning around and heading home after just over a week.

But that was not to be. Mechanical problems aboard Starliner led NASA to conclude that the spacecraft was not fit to carry the astronauts home. Instead the ship left the station and splashed down uncrewed, leaving Wilmore and Williams to join the station rotation, living and working aboard the ISS until a fresh SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft arrived and they could come home. They splashed down on March 18, a full 278 days after they were originally scheduled to depart the ISS.

So what kind of emotional adjustment did Williams and Wilmore have to make as they went from overnight guests to long-term ISS residents? And what will the reacclimation to life on Earth be like after so much time away from home and family—and for that matter gravity?