Sunita Williams looks ‘skinny’ in new NASA photo, netizens concerned: ‘Evacuate ASAP’

Netizens raised concerns over NASA astronaut Sunita Williams’s health after the US space agency posted a picture of her and another NASA astronaut, Don Pettit.

Williams has been in space for around six months and is awaiting her return to Earth next year. She and her colleague Butch Wilmore had launched to space aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft in June. They were posted were supposed to spend eight days on the space station. However, their time in space was extended after Starliner was made to return without its crew in September after it was detected with faults.

NASA shared a news image of Williams on December 17. In the picture, she could be seen donning a red Santa hat and a red T-shirt.

NASA captioned the photo as, “Another day, another sleigh ⛄️❄️NASA astronauts Don Pettit and Suni Williams pose for a fun holiday season portrait while speaking on a ham radio inside the space Station’s Columbus laboratory module.”

The picture alarmed netizens who remain concerned about William’s health following her extended stay in space. “They look too thin and are living in a crowded cell,” one X user said.

“Suni Williams does not look well, she needs to come home now,” another remarked. Another user commented, “hey look like they are in very bad shape in need of been evacuated ASAP.”

“They are getting pretty skinny! Praying for their safety!,” another comment read.

Many others questioned how Sunita Williams got Santa/Christmas hats. “How do they have Santa hats if they launched in June for a supposed 8 days lo if you can send them supplies send them home instead 😭,” one comments read.

Starliner astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore will return on a SpaceX Crew 9 Dragon spacecraft early 2025. They were initially scheduled to return in February. However, NASA announced further delay in Indian-origin Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore’s homecoming on Tuesday. Now the pair won’t return until the end of March or even April because of a delay in launching their replacements, according to NASA.