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On August 12, NASA (NASA)ofastronautSunita Williams and Barry Wilmore trapped in spaceship after Boeing's Starliner malfunctionInternational Space StationNASA said the two may have to wait until February next year to return to Earth. The astronauts recently shared their feelings about being trapped in space.

The following is the translation

In space, no one can hear you scream.

But there are always psychologists on the ground on call to listen to the stories of stressed-out astronauts.

“I could rant to him, cry to him, whatever,” said Clayton Anderson, a retired astronaut who spent 152 days aboard the International Space Station in 2007 and was helped by a telepsychologist. “He was a great support. He could try to get NASA to make adjustments when necessary and he could talk to my family.”

NASA's telepsychologists may be busy right now, as astronauts Williams and Wilmore are "trapped" on the International Space Station due to a spacecraft malfunction.

As of August 10, the two had spent 66 days on the International Space Station, while the original mission was planned to last only 10 days.

NASA announced last Wednesday that Wilmore and Williams may need to stay until February 2025 before returning to Earth.

Two other astronauts will travel to the International Space Station as early as September this year on the manned Dragon spacecraft built by SpaceX. The four will work together on the International Space Station until February next year, and then return to Earth on the manned Dragon spacecraft.

Anderson said that although astronauts undergo a two-year preparation course before departing for the International Space Station, there is actually no specific training for being trapped.

"I never thought about being stranded; I thought, 'I have a mission to accomplish. I'm going to be here for a while. That's a variable amount of time,'" the 65-year-old veteran astronaut said. "I don't remember getting much training in psychological coping."

Anderson said the astronauts are "trained in procedures to perform many types of repairs," and it would be even better if they also knew some plumbing repairs.

“One time, the Russian-made toilet broke on Friday night, and Russian mission control didn’t start working until Saturday,” he recalled of a situation on the ISS. “So we had to spend the night without a toilet.”

In the meantime, he relies on a makeshift anti-gravity toilet called the Soyuz. "I still have the Apollo bags," Anderson said, "the ones that you seal and store in a box, but I have no training on how to use them. It's gross!"

As for repairs, Anderson said, "You get your instructions the next morning and hope that the right parts are on the station. I think we fixed it in one day. But sometimes, parts have to be sent up from the ground."

Amazingly, the time it takes to deliver supplies to the International Space Station can be as little as four hours.

Astronauts also don't have to worry about going hungry, because cargo ships deliver fresh food and clothing to the International Space Station from the United States every few months. However, Williams and Wilmore cannot return to Earth on cargo ships because these ships are not suitable for carrying people.

But Anderson said that sometimes the food reserves are "very low." "There are some dishes on the space station that no one likes to eat, such as teriyaki tofu and spicy tofu, which I will never touch."

The International Space Station is a joint venture between the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan and Canada. It was launched in 1998 and now provides a platform for scientific research for 15 countries.

NASA describes the ISS as "larger than a six-bedroom house, with six bedrooms, two bathrooms, a gym and a 360-degree viewing window." The ISS is powered by solar cells and also has a kitchenette with a refrigerator, hot and cold water facilities and a food warmer.

Although the medical equipment on the International Space Station is more advanced than ordinary first aid kits, it doesn't sound as high-end as you might imagine. Anderson recalled that in addition to suturing tools and intubation equipment, intravenous infusion kits and syringes, it is also equipped with antidiarrhea drugs and sleeping pills. In an emergency, astronauts will receive treatment under the guidance of doctors on the ground.

Anderson noted: “I’m sure Williams and Wilmore have medical and psychological support teams there.”

Sometimes astronauts are also medical experts. Frank Rubio is a flight surgeon who was selected in 2017 to begin two years of training and is scheduled to travel to the International Space Station in 2022 with two Russian cosmonauts.

The mission, originally planned to last 180 days, was eventually extended to 371 days because the Russian spacecraft scheduled to return to Earth was hit by a meteorite or space debris, causing a radiator leak, setting a record for the longest space flight by American astronauts.

Rubio said he sometimes felt like he was going crazy because of the "extremely small space" where "the only privacy you have is about the size of a small phone booth." Contrary to NASA's description, he compared the International Space Station to a 'two- or three-bedroom house with hallways.'

Being trapped in space takes a toll on the body. As Rubio said, "In space, we can't walk or bear our own weight, so it may take two to six months to basically feel back to normal."

NASA avoids using words like "stranded," "trapped" or "stranded." At a press conference about Williams and Wilmore in June, Steve Stich, manager of NASA's commercial human spaceflight program, said: "Our plan is to bring them home on the Starliner when the time is right."

Williams and Wilmore's capsule was built by Boeing, a company that made headlines in 2024 for a series of mechanical and human errors. "That's certainly concerning," Anderson said, "but the aviation sector is different from the space sector."

"Over the last few weeks, we made the decision to make sure we had the ability to use the SpaceX spacecraft because I think our team was becoming increasingly frustrated with the situation," Stich said last week.

The Boeing Starliner that carried Williams and Wilmore to the International Space Station reportedly had a known helium leak before launch.

Although ground engineers have made repairs, the Starliner exposed more problems after docking with the International Space Station, including thruster failure and helium leakage in the propulsion system.

Anderson said the two astronauts probably weren't feeling scared at this point.

He said Williams and Wilmore were test pilots before they became astronauts. "I'm speculating, but I think they probably thought to themselves, 'We're test pilots, we can handle this, we're not afraid.'"

Even without unexpected delays, long space missions can put a strain on astronauts' relationships with their families.

"My wife and I have discussed whether we can make it if the mission extends to a month or so," he said of his wife, Susan, who also works in the aerospace field. "If it extends to three or four months, it will be more complicated. I can't speak for other families, but I can imagine that [Wilmore's] family may be a little anxious right now. His children are grown, but they must miss their dad on the ground."

Wilmore, 62, is from middle Tennessee and has two daughters with his wife. He is a retired U.S. Navy captain who was selected as an astronaut in 2000.

Williams, 58, who is married to a federal police officer in Oregon, was a Navy test pilot before being selected as an astronaut in 1998.

Anderson, who met Williams when they were both in astronaut training in 1998, thinks she is "really enjoying every day in space." He said, "I think she and Wilmore are not panicking at this point. They're probably just working hard, enjoying the time, trusting the system. It's actually pretty fun to be in space."

Anderson, now CEO of the SAC Air and Space Museum in his hometown of Ashland, Nebraska, recalled how much he missed his family while in space.

But he also admitted that not everyone is like this. "Some of our astronauts like to go to the Russian Space Training Center (Star City, northeast of Moscow) for training because they don't have to deal with family issues." (Chenchen)