Astronaut Frank Rubio and his crewmates have safely returned to Earth after a 371-day, 157-million-mile journey to the International Space Station.
His spaceflight is the longest single spaceflight by a U.S. astronaut, breaking the previous record held by NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei at 355 days.
Rubio’s mission allowed scientists to study the effects of long-duration spaceflight on humans and prepare for NASA Artemis missions to the Moon and human exploration of Mars.
Ellen Ochoa made history by becoming the first Hispanic woman to travel to space. She achieved this feat by embarking on a nine-day mission aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery.
Today, she was among the first to send a congratulatory message to astronaut Frank Rubio and his crewmates as they landed back on Earth.
Rubio spent 371 days in space aboard the International Space Station, contributing to science and human research in microgravity. He is scheduled to return to Houston tomorrow morning.
Today, NASA confirmed that Frank Rubio landed safely at 6:17 a.m. Central Time on September 27.
Rubio and his crewmates safely returned to Earth aboard the Soyuz MS-23 after a 371-day, 157-million-mile journey to the International Space Station.
Rubio’s spaceflight is the longest single flight by a U.S. astronaut, breaking the previous record held by NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei at 355 days.
Rubio, together with his crewmates, Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin, launched aboard the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft on September 21, 2022.
However, the Soyuz MS-22 capsule returned to Earth without its crew due to a coolant leak.
So, the Soyuz MS-23 capsule was launched on February 23, 2023, as a replacement.
During his mission, Rubio completed approximately 5,936 orbits, covering a distance of more than 157 million miles (253 million km), equivalent to roughly 328 trips to the Moon and back.
Rubio’s extended mission allowed scientists to study the effects of long-duration spaceflight on humans and prepare for NASA Artemis missions to the Moon and human exploration of Mars.
The end of a great and record-setting expedition for Frank Rubio — welcome home! https://t.co/kRKQZfBpDk
— Ellen Ochoa (@Astro_Ellen) September 27, 2023
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