NASA
Eleven days earlier than Christmas final year, a micrometeoroid struck a Soyuz spacecraft docked to the International Space Station. This ruptured the car’s cooling system, creating a dramatic spray of coolant for hours into space earlier than there was none left.
Prior to this unintended strike, NASA astronaut Frank Rubio had been planning to come back dwelling by round spring break of 2023 to see his spouse, Deborah, and 4 kids. For his debut spaceflight, six months in space was sufficient for the previous helicopter pilot and flight surgeon.
But finally Russian and US engineers decided that the Soyuz spacecraft that he and two Russian crewmates—cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin—had flown to the space station is probably not secure for the return journey dwelling. The crew compartment was prone to overheat. So that broken car was flown dwelling with out anybody on board, and a alternative Soyuz flew autonomously to the station.
An sudden problem
That car, Soyuz MS-23, was to have carried three crew members to the station. But because it was empty, it fell to Rubio and the 2 Russians to finish the mission that the unique occupants of Soyuz MS-23 have been to have fulfilled. Accordingly, Rubio was instructed he must fly not one, however two six-month increments.
“It was sudden,” Rubio stated Wednesday, aboard the space station. “In some methods it has been an unimaginable problem.”
Because of the Soyuz leak, Rubio has now turn out to be the NASA astronaut with the longest steady time frame in space. Last Monday, he broke the 355-day report set by Mark Vande Hei in 2021 and 2022, and when he lands later this month, Rubio will have spent 371 days in space.
During a video name with NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy, Rubio stated he had missed some essential moments over the summer time of 2023, together with a faculty commencement and a son heading off to West Point. However, he stated he has loved the additional time in space.
NASA
Rubio and his Russian colleagues have been in space for therefore lengthy that they will have lived and labored alongside 28 colleagues from varied nations, together with Italy, Japan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Five totally different Crew Dragon missions have visited the space station throughout Rubio’s tenure—Crew 4, Crew 5, Crew 6, and Crew 7, in addition to the personal Axiom 2 mission.
“Just having that range up right here was such a distinctive feeling,” Rubio stated.
Keeping his physique wholesome
A flight surgeon who earned a doctorate of medication from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Rubio stated he labored exhausting to keep up his bodily health in space. His train routine consists of about 75 minutes every day on a resistance machine, which mimics weightlifting actions, to keep up his bone density. Additionally, he spends 30 to 45 minutes a day on a stationary bike or treadmill for cardiovascular exercise.
Rubio is aware of the toil that spending so lengthy in microgravity can tackle human bones, muscle power, and different components of the human physique that advanced over lots of of hundreds of thousands of years to reside in Earth’s gravity. “As a physician, I’m actually excited to see how my physique does after I return,” Rubio stated.
Before the decision, Nelson praised Rubio for willingly enterprise the year-long mission.
“Working and residing on the International Space Station is the chance of a lifetime, however there isn’t a doubt that it additionally requires sacrifice, particularly time away from family and friends,” Nelson instructed Ars. “Frank dealt with the sudden delay in his return with grace and professionalism. We are grateful for the nice science he has carried out on his record-breaking keep and may’t wait to welcome him dwelling in a couple of weeks.”
NASA says that information from missions like that flown by Rubio will help the space company because it plans for long-duration missions past low-Earth orbit. Perhaps Rubio, 47, who joined NASA in 2017, will be among the many astronauts flying one among them.