Frank Rubio has landed safely back on Earth after becoming the first NASA astronaut to spend a full year in space – six months longer than the original plan.
Frank Rubio has arrived home safely after spending 371 days in space — a record for a NASA astronaut.
Rubio departed the International Space Station (ISS) with Russian cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin at 3:54 a.m. ET on Wednesday before landing in Kazakhstan at 7:17 a.m. ET (5:17 p.m. local time). NASA shared footage of the moment the Soyuz capsule containing the three crewmembers touched down:
Welcome home, Frank!
The single longest spaceflight for any of our @NASA_Astronauts comes to a close. Frank Rubio is back on Earth after 371 days. His extended mission to the @Space_Station will help us shape the future of deep space exploration. pic.twitter.com/nR88RA6vqC
— NASA (@NASA) September 27, 2023
The American astronaut’s mission was originally scheduled to last the usual six months, but a coolant leak on the trio’s docked Soyuz spacecraft put it out of action.
