NASA astronaut Frank Rubio breaks US record for longest spaceflight
NASA astronaut Frank Rubio floats inside the cupola, the International Space Station’s "window to the world." (NASA)
NASA astronaut Frank Rubio now holds the record for the longest U.S. spaceflight.
Rubio surpassed the U.S. space endurance record of 355 days on Monday at the International Space Station. He arrived at the outpost last September with two Russians for a routine six months. But their stay was doubled after their Soyuz capsule developed a coolant leak while parked at the space station.
The trio will return to Earth on Sept. 27 in a replacement capsule that was sent up empty for the ride home. By then, Rubio will have spent 371 days in space, more than two weeks longer than Mark Vande Hei, the previous U.S. record holder for a single spaceflight, Russia holds the world record of 437 days, set in the mid-1990s.
FILE - NASA astronaut Frank Rubio, a member of the International Space Station (ISS) Expedition 68 main crew, gestures a heart as his spacesuit is tested during pre-launch preparations at the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Sept. (NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA/AFP via Getty Images)
"Your dedication is truly out of this world, Frank!" NASA chief Bill Nelson said via X, formerly known as Twitter.
FILE - NASA astronaut Frank Rubio, a member of the International Space Station (ISS) Expedition 68 main crew, attends a press conference in the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Sept. 20, 2022. (DMITRY LOVETSKY/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
A replacement crew of two Russians and an American is set to launch to the station from Kazakhstan on Friday.
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