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 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 would have been in space for 371 days, which is more than two weeks longer than Mark Vande Hei, the previous American record holder for a single spaceflight.
Russia now owns the record for the longest space mission with 437 days, which it achieved in the mid-1990s.
Frank, your commitment is simply extraordinary! “NASA Administrator Bill Nelson stated via X, formerly Twitter.
On Friday, a new crew consisting of two Russians and one American will launch to the station from Kazakhstan.
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