Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams, eat soup created from their own urine to stay alive

Astronauts Butch Wilmore, 61, and Sunita Williams, 59, are currently surviving on soup created from water recycled from their own pee after becoming stranded 254 miles above Earth. After the Boeing Starliner spaceship that was supposed to take them home experienced propulsion problems and helium leaks, making a manned return flight unsafe, the eight-day June mission has now lasted six months.

The pair’s menu has shrunk to powdered milk, dehydrated casseroles, and freeze-dried soup—reconstituted with water made from their own sweat and urine—after initially being treated to fresh fruit, roast chicken, and pizza. Although the ISS’s sophisticated filtering system makes sure that no liquid is wasted, their health is at risk due to the significant nutritional change.

Although NASA physicians keep a careful eye on their diet to make sure they consume enough calories each day, both astronauts seem noticeably leaner. Williams addressed her thin appearance and brushed off diet worries, blaming the weight loss on microgravity. “I maintain my weight through proper nutrition and rigorous exercise,” she stated.

The station’s capacity has been put to the strain by the astronauts’ prolonged stay; NASA is now depending on its 530-gallon water recycling tank and an emergency food supply to keep the crew alive. In order to prevent floating accidents, meals are cooked on magnetized trays using metal utensils, and each astronaut is given approximately 3.8 pounds of food per day.Although it will take a while, rescue is imminent. Wilmore and Williams will have to endure another three months of space soup and microgravity exercises before being brought home in February 2025 by a SpaceX Dragon rocket.

The crew’s survival on soup made from recycled urine highlights the extreme difficulties of prolonged space missions, despite NASA’s insistence that they are well-cared for. Their perseverance demonstrates how resilient people can be, even when dinner is served with a terrible unusual ingredient.