NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei this week set a new record for the longest space flight by an American.
After arriving on the International Space Station (ISS) on April 9, 2021, Vande Hei on Tuesday surpassed the existing 340-day NASA record set by Scott Kelly in 2016.
When Vande Hei returns to Earth later this month, his record will stand at 355 days.
The American astronaut arrived on the ISS with Russian cosmonaut Pyotr Dubrov, and the pair will share the record for longest stay aboard the space station when they fly home together later this month.
At the start of their mission, Vande Hei and Dubrov expected a standard six-month mission, but changes in crew rotation schedules last fall resulted in an extension of their stay.
Current NASA chief Bill Nelson congratulated Vande Hei on his new space flight record. tweet: “Today [Mark Vande Hei] makes history, surpasses [Scott Kelly’s] Record of the longest single space flight by a NASA astronaut! Mark’s stay will help us understand the implications of longer missions in space. Mark, thanks for your service and congratulations!”
In a video (below) posted Tuesday, the American astronaut, who is on his second space mission, said he plans to “go outside as much as possible” when he returns to Earth, adding : “I’ve had an indoor job 24/7 for almost a year, so I look forward to being outside whatever the weather.”
As for his most memorable experiences onboard the ISS, Vande Hei said the beautiful auroras are unforgettable (you can see some of them in the video).
Aboard the International Space Station, NASA Exp 66 flight engineer @Astro_Sabot answered questions from social media on March 10 and reflected on his record-breaking space flight. pic.twitter.com/nTBIKMAUKr
— International Space Station (@Space_Station) March 16, 2022
In addition to working on a number of experiments during his extended stay, Vande Hei also found time to head to the station’s Cupola module to snap stunning photos of Earth as the ISS orbited at about 250 miles altitude.
Since they’ve stayed in space longer than most astronauts (though not as long as record-breaking Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov, who spent 437 days and 18 hours aboard the Mir space station in the mid-’90s), researchers will be excited to find out , as Well, Vande Hei’s body adapted to spend longer periods in microgravity conditions, and the results helped NASA better plan upcoming manned missions to the Moon and Mars.
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