Frank Rubio of NASA now holds the record for the longest space mission by an American.
On Monday onboard the International Space Station, Rubio broke the American record for the longest stay in space, which stood at 355 days. He and two Russians arrived at the outpost in September of last year for a typical six-month stay. However, their Soyuz capsule’s coolant leak while it was parked at the space station caused their stay to be extended by two days.
On September 27, the group will return to Earth in a replacement capsule that was launched empty for the trip back. By that time, Rubio will have been in space for 371 days, surpassing the previous American record holder for a single spaceflight, Mark Vande Hei, by more than two weeks. The global record, which Valeri Polyakov of Russia set in the middle of the 1990s, is 437 days.
Frank, your commitment is simply extraordinary. Bill Nelson, the director of NASA, stated on X, formerly known as Twitter.
On Friday, a new crew consisting of two Russians and one American will launch at the station from Kazakhstan.