What Sunita Williams, Butch Wilmore Ate During Their Time In Space

NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, who were stuck on the International Space Station (ISS) for over nine months, are back home. They made a safe landing on Earth, thanks to a flawless mission by Crew-9 and SpaceX's spacecraft Dragon.

What started as an eight-day mission turned into a marathon nine-month stay for Ms Williams and Mr Wilmore.

Aboard the ISS, the two astronauts consumed a lot of pizza, roast chicken, and even prawn cocktails, The New York Post reported. They didn't have much fresh food to add to their diet, it added.

A specialist with knowledge of the troubled Starliner mission told The NY Post that the pair also ate tuna and breakfast cereal with powdered milk.

The food is often packaged or freeze-dried and may be reheated on the ISS using a meal warmer. It is customised to each astronaut's daily needs, they said.

But the grub, created at the Johnson Space Center's Space Food Systems Laboratory in Houston, is constrained in its use of fresh produce.

The daily food allowance for each astronaut was carefully planned at about 3.8 pounds per day, with extra supplies kept on hand in case the mission had to be extended.

All meat and eggs only require to be reheated in space after being cooked on Earth. The space station's 530-gallon fresh water tank provided water needed for dried soups, stews, and casseroles. Protein options included tuna and other cooked meats.

The ISS restocks goods every three months. There was initially fresh fruit but "as the three months continues that goes away - and their fruits and vegetables are packaged or freeze-dried," the specialist told The NY Post in November 2024.

The ISS ensured little to no waste, recycling even astronauts' urine and sweat into fresh water. The two astronauts prepared their own food and ate on magnetized trays with metal utensils.

"Nothing is left to chance and that includes their food," the expert said.

On Wednesday, Ms Williams' family said they were "happy" she was back safely after an unexpected nine-month stay in space.

"That moment was surreal," Falguni Pandya, her sister-in-law, told NDTV, referring to the moment SpaceX Dragon spaceship made a soft splashdown off the coast of Florida, marking their safe return to Earth.

Since Ms Williams was the first astronaut to have samosas on the space station, she will be looking forward to throwing a 'samosa party' for her, Ms Pandya said.