Space travel has reached a new record. American astronaut Frank Rubio spent 371 days in space, the longest space flight ever by an American astronaut. The previous record was 355 days. NASA announced this on Wednesday announced. The record was not planned, but was the result of a technical defect. The astronaut would actually spend 180 days on the International Space Station (ISS). Due to a coolant leak in the Soyuz MS-22, the spacecraft that would pick him up, that number increased to 371.
Engineers were afraid that it leak would cause too high temperatures for the crew members. The leak was probably caused by a collision with a small piece of space debris.
After a six-month delay, the astronaut, together with Russian Roskosmos cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin, arrived safely on Earth on Wednesday aboard the Soyuz MS-23 capsule that replaced the MS-22. They landed with parachutes in a remote area of Kazakhstan.
“For me, hugging my wife and kids is obviously the most important thing when I get back, and that’s probably what I’ll focus on for the first few days,” Rubio said during a press conference from space last week.
5,936 laps around the earth
The Russian cosmonauts stayed on the ISS as long as the astronaut, but did not set a record in their own country. The record for the longest Russian space journey, which is also the world record, is held by the deceased Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov. He spent 437 days in space in 1994 and 1995.
During their mission, the astronaut and cosmonauts made approximately 5,936 laps around the Earth. “Frank’s record time in space is not just a milestone; it is an important contribution to our understanding of long-duration space missions,” said NASA Director Bill Nelson. On board the ISS, Rubio conducted planetary research, among other things.