When we think of space, one of the first institutions that comes to our mind is undoubtedly NASA. With his discoveries, he illuminates the dark mystery of the universe. NASA continues to break new ground and records. When NASA astronaut Frank Rubio launched into space in September of last year, he became the first American to orbit. Of course, he wasn’t satisfied with that. 355 days later, Rubio broke the record for the longest stay in space by a NASA astronaut.
NASA astronaut Frank Rubio became the astronaut who spent the longest time in space!
Rubio surpassed the time of 355 days, 3 hours and 45 minutes recorded by NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei last year. He broke his own record on Monday, September 11. Rubio, who is on his first space mission, will return to Earth in a few weeks, increasing his stay in space to 371 days. NASA published a message announcing the space flight record on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“Frank Rubio’s journey into space reflects the essence of discovery,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a message released Monday. “While he is breaking records as NASA’s longest-staying US astronaut in space, he is paving the way for the next generation of astronauts,” he said.
Rubio currently holds the record for the longest continuous space mission by a NASA astronaut. However, the record for the longest time spent in space is still held by someone else. It belongs to Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov, who lived 437 days and 18 hours aboard the Mir space station in the mid-1990s.
Rubio was launched aboard the Soyuz spacecraft in September last year. However, a record-breaking space mission was not in their plans. The adventures of the Soyuz spacecraft are not limited to this mission. When we talk about the Soyuz spacecraft, we can’t help but mention its history. Most long-duration missions performed by professional astronauts had a planned mission.
He was scheduled to stay on the ISS for six months with two Russian cosmonauts, Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin. However, setbacks came one after another. In December, an unexpected leak occurred in the Soyuz capsule. Thus changed the course of the mission.
Russian space officials decided not to bring the trio home, considering the capsule unsafe. Instead, they decided to relaunch the Soyuz spacecraft at the end of February. The change forced officials overseeing the mission to reorganize it. Thus, their stay in space was extended for another six months.
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