Descent from the International Space Station closes out an unexpected 371-day stay, the longest flight in U.S. space history.
Two cosmonauts and a NASA astronaut undocked from the International Space Station early Wednesday and headed for landing on the steppe of Kazakhstan to close out an unexpected yearlong stay in space, the longest single flight in U.S. space history.
That's just enough to drop the far side of the orbit deep into the atmosphere, putting the ship on course for landing. Expected mission duration: 370 days, 21 hours and 22 minutes in a voyage spanning 5,936 orbits and 157 million miles. Outgoing space station commander Sergei Prokopyev hands over command of the International Space Station to European Space Agency astronaut Andreas Mogensen. along with a symbolic key to the lab complex, during a brief ceremony on Sept. 26, 2023. Prokopyev, Dmitri Petelin and NASA astronaut Frank Rubio have spent a U.S. record 371 days in space.When Rubio and his cosmonaut crewmates launched on Sept.
"Birthdays, anniversaries, my son's going to head off to college this year, my oldest daughter is finishing up her first year of college," he added."We've tried really hard to stay in touch with one another. ... My wife, my kids, they've been troopers, and they've really handled it incredibly well. Speaking to the departing crew members, Mogensen offered congratulations, saying,"You have shown resilience, professionalism and grace in the face of unexpected challenges and significant uncertainty."
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