American astronaut who spent the longest time in space: Who is Frank Rubio?
Astronaut Frank Rubio, who served on the International Space Station, was recorded as the American astronaut who spent the longest time in space with 366 days.
In the statement made on the Twitter account of the US Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA), it was said: "Astronaut Frank Rubio broke a new record in the history of US spacecraft by exceeding the previous record of 355 days."
It was noted that Rubio will return to Earth on September 27 and will have been on a space mission for 371 days uninterruptedly until then.
Francisco Carlos "Frank" Rubio (born December 11, 1975) is a US Army lieutenant colonel and helicopter pilot, flight surgeon, and NASA astronaut.
When Rubio, who goes into space on September 21, 2022, completes the mission, he will become the first American astronaut to stay in space for more than 1 year.
Capsule malfunction broke a record
Rubio and two Russian cosmonauts with him went to the International Space Station with the Russian Soyuz capsule for a six-month mission.
However, after a malfunction was detected in the Soyuz MS-22 vehicle, the capsule returned to Earth without a crew, and NASA announced that a new spacecraft would be sent to allow the Russian and US crew to return to Earth.
In the process of sending a new spacecraft, Rubio broke the record in his country.
"It's truly an honor to be recognized as one of the people who spent a year in space," Rubio said in a recent interview with ABC's Good Morning America. "And I'm absolutely confident that this record will be broken again soon."
The people who held the longest U.S. mandate before Frank Rubio were: Mark Vande Hei with 355 days, Scott Kelly with 340 days, Christina Koch with 328 days, Peggy Whitson with 289 days, and Drew Morgan with 272 days. (Source: NASA)
Rubio, a former flight surgeon, said he expected returning home to be a challenge for him.
"After about six months in space, we find that most people have a little bit of a challenge with their balance systems and balance systems. So for 12 months, that can be a challenge," he said. "It may take a few days before I'm back to normal, but the reality is it's going to need a really intense rehab process to get back to normal, that's part of the process."
It's not a world record
On the other hand, although Rubio is the American astronaut who spent the longest time in space, the world record belongs to Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov with 437 days.
Valeri Vladimirovich Polyakov (27 April 1942 – 7 September 2022) was a Soviet and Russian cosmonaut. He is the record holder for the longest single stay in space, staying aboard the Mir space station for more than 14 months (437 days 18 hours) during one trip. His combined space experience was more than 22 months.
Polyakov broke the world record by staying in space for 437 days between January 1994 and March 1995.