INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
A NASA astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts returned to Earth on Wednesday after being stuck in space for just over a year
American Frank Rubio set a record for the longest United States spaceflight — a result of the extended stay.The trio landed in a remote
area of Kazakhstan, descending in a Soyuz capsule that was rushed up as a replacement after their original ride was hit by space junk and
lost all its coolant while docked to the International Space Station, AP reported. What should have been a 180-day mission turned into a
Rubio spent more than two weeks longer in space than Mark Vande Hei, who held NASA&s previous endurance record for a single spaceflight.
The
Soyuz capsule that brought Rubio and cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin back was a replacement launched in February
Russian engineers suspect a piece of space junk pierced the radiator of their original capsule late last year, midway through what should
have been a six-month mission
Engineers worried that without cooling, the capsule&s electronics and any occupants could overheat to dangerous levels, so the craft
returned empty.There wasn''t another Soyuz to launch a fresh crew until this month
Their replacements finally arrived nearly two weeks ago.No one deserves to go home to their families more than you,& the space station&s new
commander, Denmark&s Andreas Mogensen, said earlier this week.
Prokopyev told ground controllers throughout the descent that all three were
They experienced more than four times the force of gravity as their capsule streaked through the atmosphere and came to a touchdown in the
barren Kazakh steppes, ending up on its side
Helicopters moved in with recovery crews to fetch the astronauts.It&s good to be home,& Rubio said after being pulled from the
capsule.Rubio, 47, an Army doctor and helicopter pilot, said at a news conference last week that he never would have agreed to a full year
in space if asked at the outset
He ended up missing important family milestones including the oldest of his four children finishing her first year at the United States
Naval Academy and another heading off to West Point.Rubio had said the psychological aspect of spending so long in space was tougher than he
He may hold on to this record for a while
NASA has no plans as of now for more yearlong missions.It was the first spaceflight for Rubio and Petelin, 40, an engineer
Prokopyev, 48, an engineer and pilot, has now pulled two long station stints.
They logged 157 million miles (253 million kilometers) since
launching from Kazakhstan last September and circled the world nearly 6,000 times
The post Three astronauts return to Earth after a year in space first appeared on Ariana News.
