It takes a special sort of person to go into outer space.
You have to be able to say goodbye to the only planet you have known, and then leave knowing that anything could go wrong.
For one astronaut things did go wrong – but it all led to him landing an astonishing world record!
And it all started with a leak that grounded a shuttle to take a U.S. astronaut home.
NASA astronaut Frank Rubio is carried to a medical tent. Photo by NASA
Astronaut Frank Rubio was on a six-month mission at the International Space Station (ISS). Rubio, along with two Russian cosmonauts, were expected to come home in March. But their ship home had an emergency issue – it began leaking coolant, rendering it unsafe to carry the men back to Earth.
The six-month trip was then extended by more than six months more. Russia launched a replacement Soyuz MS-23/69S ship to the ISS, and the crew had to spend the additional months getting the crew rotation back on schedule.
Rubio, who has four children, said that if he had been asked to stay that long on the ISS before he left, he “probably would have declined.”
“And that’s only because of family things that were going on this past year,” he said.
… if I had known that I would have had to miss those very important events, I just would have had to say, ‘thank you, but no thank you.’”
But the extended space stay did come with a perk. When Rubio, along with Sergey Prokopvev and Dmitri Petelin, were finally able to return to Earth, Rubio had spent 371 days in space, beating out the U.S. record held by NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei.
The Soyuz MS-23/69S spacecraft backs away from the International Space Station on Sept. 27, 2023, kicking off a 3-hour 23-minute descent to landing on the steppe of Kazakhstan. Photo by NASA
After traveling more than 157.4 million miles and making 5,963 orbits around the Earth, Rubio and the Russian cosmonauts landed in Kazakhstan. Rubio was cleared medically and will be flying back home to Houston, Texas.
While in space, Rubio helped conduct tests ranging from human health studies to plant research. The crew also studied the challenges of sending and using robots in space.
Reporters asked Rubio what he was looking forward to the most now that he was back home. Rubio, a doctor and military helicopter pilot, said “hugging my wife and kids is going to be paramount. And I’ll probably focus on that for the first couple days.”
“We’re blessed enough to have kind of a quiet backyard,” he said. “And I think just going out in the yard and enjoying the trees and the silence. Up here, we kind of have the constant hum of machinery. … So I’m looking forward to just being outside and enjoying the peace and quiet.”
It will take some time for Rubio’s body to get used to Earth’s gravity.
“Your vestibular system is probably the most affected,” he said. “And then after that, really, it’s a couple of months to regain your strength. Our trainers do a great job of keeping us in shape up here. But the reality is we’re not standing, we’re not walking, we’re not bearing our own weight.
And so it just takes some time to get your bones and your muscles used to doing that consistently back on Earth. So it’ll be anywhere from two to six months before I essentially say that I feel normal.”
NASA administrator Bill Nelson said the agency couldn’t be more proud of Rubio’s flight. “Frank’s record-breaking time in space is not just a milestone; it’s a major contribution to our understanding of long-duration space missions. Our astronauts make extraordinary sacrifices away from their homes and loved ones to further discovery.”
Rubio’s love of his country and pride to be an American didn’t go unnoticed, either.
“NASA is immensely grateful for Frank’s dedicated service to our nation and the invaluable scientific contributions he made on the International Space Station. He embodies the true pioneer spirit that will pave the way for future exploration to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.”
Watch below for a look at this American hero!
