NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei, launched by Russia to the International Space Station aboard a Soyuz spacecraft last April, returns this week in the longest single flight by a U.S. astronaut.
NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei, launched by Russia to the International Space Station aboard a Soyuz spacecraft last April, returns this week to a world torn by war in Ukraine and escalating superpower tension as he closes out a 355-day stay in orbit, the longest single flight by a U.S. astronaut.
Said Marshburn:"It's an honor and a privilege to accept command of the International Space Station and continuing that international partnership and that legacy in spaceflight. Want to thank you, you've been a wonderful commander, really can't thank you enough." Vande Hei and first-time flier Dubrov will have logged 355 days seven hours and 45 minutes off planet, covering 5,680 orbits spanning 150.1 million miles. Including an earlier space station stay in 2017-18, Vande Hei's total time in space across two missions will stand at 523 days, moving him up to third on the list of most-experienced U.S. astronauts.
He also made a point of meditating for 20 minutes each day in the multi-window cupola compartment, taking in spectacular views of Earth amid a sea of stars. Vande Hei and his support crew will fly back to the Johnson Space Center in Houston shortly after landing while Shkaplerov and Dubrov board a Russian aircraft for a flight to the cosmonaut training center in Star City near Moscow.
"I didn't know with certainty that the flight would be this long," he told CBS News."But I certainly knew that it was a possibility, and I made sure my family was aware of that. And they all agreed that I should still say yes. So no, I didn't have any second thoughts. I felt like it was an opportunity to fill a need that we had, and I was very happy to be able to fill it.
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