![NASA astronaut Frank Rubio observes the behavior of a free-flying water bubble inside the International Space Station's Kibo laboratory module.](https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/iss068e006386medium-800x533.jpg)
NASA
Eleven days before Christmas last 12 months, a micrometeoroid struck a Soyuz spacecraft docked to the International Space Station. This ruptured the vehicle’s cooling system, making a dramatic spray of coolant for hours into space before there was none left.
Prior to this accidental strike, NASA astronaut Frank Rubio had been planning to return home by around spring break of 2023 to see his wife, Deborah, and 4 children. For his debut spaceflight, six months in space was enough for the previous helicopter pilot and flight surgeon.
But eventually Russian and US engineers determined that the Soyuz spacecraft that he and two Russian crewmates—cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin—had flown to the space station might not be protected for the return journey home. The crew compartment was prone to overheat. In order that damaged vehicle was flown home without anyone on board, and a substitute Soyuz flew autonomously to the station.
An unexpected challenge
That vehicle, Soyuz MS-23, was to have carried three crew members to the station. But because it was empty, it fell to Rubio and the 2 Russians to finish the mission that the unique occupants of Soyuz MS-23 were to have fulfilled. Accordingly, Rubio was told he would need to fly not one, but two six-month increments.
“It was unexpected,” Rubio said Wednesday, aboard the space station. “In some ways it has been an incredible challenge.”
Due to Soyuz leak, Rubio has now turn out to be the NASA astronaut with the longest continuous time period in space. Last Monday, he broke the 355-day record set by Mark Vande Hei in 2021 and 2022, and when he lands later this month, Rubio may have spent 371 days in space.
During a video call with NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy, Rubio said he had missed some vital moments over the summer of 2023, including a university graduation and a son heading off to West Point. Nonetheless, he said he has enjoyed the time beyond regulation in space.
![Rubio will take his place atop this list of single spaceflight duration records by NASA astronauts.](https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/single_spaceflight_info7_0-980x490.jpg)
NASA
Rubio and his Russian colleagues have been in space for therefore long that they may have lived and worked alongside 28 colleagues from various nations, including Italy, Japan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Five different Crew Dragon missions have visited the space station during Rubio’s tenure—Crew 4, Crew 5, Crew 6, and Crew 7, in addition to the private Axiom 2 mission.
“Just having that diversity up here was such a singular feeling,” Rubio said.
Keeping his body healthy
A flight surgeon who earned a doctorate of medication from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Rubio said he worked hard to keep up his physical fitness in space. His exercise routine consists of about 75 minutes every day on a resistance machine, which mimics weightlifting activities, to keep up his bone density. Moreover, he spends 30 to 45 minutes a day on a stationary bike or treadmill for cardiovascular activity.
Rubio knows the toil that spending so long in microgravity can tackle human bones, muscle strength, and other parts of the human body that evolved over a whole lot of thousands and thousands of years to live in Earth’s gravity. “As a physician, I’m really excited to see how my body does after I return,” Rubio said.
Before the decision, Nelson praised Rubio for willingly undertaking the year-long mission.
“Working and living on the International Space Station is the chance of a lifetime, but there isn’t any doubt that it also requires sacrifice, especially time away from family and friends,” Nelson told Ars. “Frank handled the unexpected delay in his return with grace and professionalism. We’re grateful for the good science he has carried out on his record-breaking stay and might’t wait to welcome him home in a few weeks.”
NASA says that data from missions like that flown by Rubio will assist the space agency because it plans for long-duration missions beyond low-Earth orbit. Perhaps Rubio, 47, who joined NASA in 2017, can be among the many astronauts flying one in all them.