NASA Astronaut Frank Rubio Returns Home to Houston After Year-long Mission

NASA Astronaut Frank Rubio Returns Home to Houston After Year-long Mission

NASA astronaut Frank Rubio waves after returning to Ellington Field in Houston, Texas, aboard a NASA jet following the completion of his 371-day mission aboard the International Space Station.

NASA astronaut Frank Rubio is greeted by fellow NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei following his arrival. Rubio had just completed a 371-day mission aboard the International Space Station the day before, breaking Vande Hei's previous single spaceflight record of 355 days set back on March 30, 2022.

NASA astronaut Frank Rubio is greeted by coworkers, including fellow NASA astronaut Christina Koch (center)

NASA astronaut Frank Rubio is greeted by coworkers, including fellow NASA astronauts Woody Hoburg (far left) and Reid Wiseman (center)

    NASA astronaut Frank Rubio is greeted by Johnson Space Center Director Vanessa Wyche

NASA astronaut Frank Rubio ended his record-breaking time in space with a parachute-assisted landing in the Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft on the steppe of Kazakhstan, southeast of the remote town of Dzhezkazgan, on Sept. 27, 2023.

Rubio arrived at the International Space Station on Sept. 21, 2022, spending 371 days in low Earth orbit, and breaking the previous American record held by NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei by 16 days.

During his 371 days aboard the station, Rubio experienced:

- Approximately 5,936 orbits of Earth

- Approximately 157,412,306 statute miles traveled (equivalent of approximately 328 round trips to the Moon and back)

- Fifteen spacecraft visited the International Space Station, including four Roscosmos Progress cargo ships, two Northrop Grumman Cygnus cargo spacecraft, two Roscosmos Soyuz, four crewed SpaceX Dragons, and three uncrewed SpaceX Dragons.

An international partnership of space agencies provides and operates the elements of the International Space Station (ISS). The principals are the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada. The ISS has been the most politically complex space exploration program ever undertaken.

Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)

Release Date: Sept. 28, 2023

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