371 DAYS LATER

Record-Setting NASA Astronaut Back on Earth After Getting Stranded in Space

Frank Rubio was in the cosmos for over a year due to space debris damaging his return vehicle home.

A NASA astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts touched back down to Earth on Wednesday morning after getting stranded in space for six months. As a result, Frank Rubio set the U.S. record for the longest continuous spaceflight at 371 days, surpassing Mark Vande Hei’s 2022 record by over two weeks. According to The Washington Post, the trio landed in Kazakhstan via a Soyuz MS-23 vehicle that was sent as a replacement in February after their first ship was struck at the International Space Station by space debris, damaging its coolant system. In a press conference last week, Rubio, 47, said he would not have embarked on the expedition, which was his first flight, had he known it would last over a full year, as he was absent for his oldest daughter finishing her first year in the U.S. Naval Academy and another child starting their studies at West Point.