The longest stay (initially planned) carried out aboard the International Space Station ended on September 27. And already, two other Russian cosmonauts are working to break the record by next year…
A visibly tired crew
Russians Sergei Prokopiev And Dimitri Petelineaccompanied by the American Frank Rubioreturned to Earth on September 27, aboard the Russian capsule Soyuz MS 23.
Contact with the ground took place in the steppes of Kazakhstan at 5:17 p.m. local time.
The three passengers, who were painful to see as their reunion with Earth’s gravity seemed to affect them, had just spent nearly 371 days in space: this is the third longest orbital stay in history, and the longest carried out as part of the operation of the International Space Station.
The trio embarked in September 2022 aboard the Soyuz MS 22, which suffered a major coolant leak on December 15, and was replaced by the Soyuz MS 23, launched without a crew on February 24.
American record
Frank Rubio thus takes first place in the ranking of astronauts in the NASA having made the longest stays around the Earth.
But already, two Russians have launched an attack on Sergei Prokopiev’s record, Dimitri Peteline and Frank Rubio: Oleg Kononenko And Nikolai Tchoubwho arrived on the station on September 15 with the Soyuz MS-24, will not return to the ground until September… 2024, after some 375 days of microgravity…
