WHen astronaut Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams began Boeing’s Starliner capsule on June 5, 2024, and they were expected to be far from home for more than a week.
Instead, they spent for about 9 months at the International Space Station. However, after more than 286 days, their extended stay in space finally ends, because the two astronauts return to Earth on Tuesday in a Spacex capsule that would jump down the coast of Florida.
62 -year -old Wilmore and 59 -year -old Williams, both experienced NASA astronauts and retired US navy test pilots. Williams became astronaut in 1998 and Wilmore in 2000. The two were the first crews that should have a quick test flight for Starliner. However, the ship struggled with problems that almost prevented Iss from doing a helium leakage and repulsive faults. NASA ordered the Boeing Capsule Unmanned return in SeptemberWilmore and Williams were left at the space station waiting for a safe flight house.
At the end of January president Donald Trump and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk guilty Former Space Station Commander Andreas Morgensen’s Biden Management for delaying the return of astronauts named “A lie.” Musk allegedly The SpaceX in X offered to bring Williams and Wilmore home months ago, but was rejected for “political reasons .. (Old NASA officials in question The space agency was not offered and former NASA manager Bill Nelson said that the decision to wait until February to return home for the trapped astronauts were based on security procedures).
In August, NASA decided to bring them back to a SpaceX capsule. Dragon-9 ship Started in September However, a charity team was placed in ISS while waiting. This assistance task is to wait for saw: the planned flight would be released in February, but Delayed due to battery work In the SpaceX capsule. A hydraulic problem Another launch delayed the attempt With a new SpaceX capsule last Wednesday. On Friday, NASA and SpaceX successfully launched a crew-10 mission in orbit with four astronauts in a SpaceX capsule that came to ISS on Saturday to relieve Wilmore and Williams.
It may take a physical and mental fee for such a long time spent in space, but Wilmore and Williams’ discovery trip is not the longest space flight. Five American astronauts-The US’s record-recorded Frank Rubio and the most cumulative days for an American astronaut, including Peggy Whitson, who spent the most cumulative days in space. And Russian cosmonauts hold worldwide records for both consecutive and cumulative days in space.
The longest one in the world’s space: Valery Polyakov
Polyakov, who examined astronotic medicine at the Institute of Medical and Biological Problems of Moscow, has become an entity to investigate the effects of space on the human body.
46 years old, he Mir Space Station launched On August 29, 1988, Soyuz TM-6-1972 was a Soviet cosmonaut 16 years after. He was accompanied by Soviet cosmonaut Vladimir Lyakhov and Abdul Ahad Momand, Afghanistan’s first astronaut. Only a week later, the rest of his crew returned to Earth, while Polyakov continued to monitor the health of Vladimir Titov and Musa Manarov, the cosmonauts that endure the space flight during the first year. After Titov and Manarov returned to Earth in December 1988, Polyakov stayed in Mir for four months to wait for two new crews.
Polyakov ultimately returned to Earth in April 1989 and pointed out for more than 240 days in space. Moscow Times.
For his second record -breaking task, Polyakov was in Mir for 14 months, starting from January 8, 1994. 25 During the experiments and investigation, he employed On March 22, 1995, the physical and cognitive functions of the crew from Russia, Kazakhstan, Germany and the United States boarded the Soyuz TM-20 spacecraft together with Polyakov, Aleksandr Viktorenko and Yelena Kondakova.
Upon his return, Polyakov rejected the standard application of the spacecraft, and insisted on walking with some help. in accordance with for writing The story of manned space stationsPhilip Baker. Expanded exploration trip permitted Scientists examine how the human body can be affected by long -distance journeys such as Mars. Found that there were tests neither physically nor cognitively intact.
Polyakov died on September 19, 2022 at the age of 80.
The longest single accommodation in space: Frank Rubio
Within 371 days spent in space, Salvadoran American astronaut Frank Rubio broke the longest space flight record by an American and longest for the international space station. On the morning of September 27, 2023, he landed in Kazakhstan more than a year after leaving Earth.
Rubio has been launched into space on September 21, 2022 in the Russian spacecraft Soyuz MS-22, since it became NASA astronaut in the-2019. The mission was initially expected to last six months, but the spacecraft forced the journey to extend the journey. Russia’s space agency, Rubio and crews, Russian cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin’i unreactivated to bring a Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft sent.
Rubio’s Time in space The Earth has spread 5,963 orbit more than 157 million miles. Mark Vande Hei defeated the previous record for a 355 -day American astronaut.
The longest space time in the world: Oleg Kononenko
Another Russian cosmonot Records the total period spent in space. Oleg Kononenko was the first person last 1000 days last June – a 33 -month equivalent.
Kononenko broke Previous record 878 cumulative days in orbit determined by Cosmonaut Gennady Padalka. When he spent in space, it included 16 years, five ISS expeditions and 16,000 orbit around the world.
The longest total duration of the USA: Peggy Whitson
65 -year -old Whitson A few broken records During his astronotic career. In 2017 USA broke the record NASA astronaut Jeff Williams set a record for the longest cumulative time spent in the 534 -day area and has been a total of 675 days. In addition, for a woman of any citizenship, she held the record of the longest cumulative and consecutive times spent in space and became the first female commander of ISS in 2008 and the first woman to command in 2016 for the second time. He flew with NASA with the Axiom field on a three long -term mission and on a flight.
Williams, just behind Whitson, is notching a total of 608 cumulative days after the third space flight. (Meanwhile, Wilmore will have a total of 404 cumulative days in space during three space flights.)
