Astronaut Frank Rubio is approaching a year in space, after breaking the record for the longest space trip in history by an American.
Rubio, who is from Miami, graduated from the NASA astronaut program in 2019. He was launched into space for the first time on Sep. 21, 2022, and will reach the one-year milestone on Thursday.
Last Monday — Sept. 11 — he surpassed Mark Vande Hei's previous record of 355 days for the longest spaceflight by an American astronaut, NASA said.
"It's been a mixed emotional roller coaster to a certain degree because personally, it was an incredible challenge, and it was difficult," Rubio said Tuesday in an interview from the International Space Station. "Professionally, it was incredibly rewarding. It's a huge honor and it's a privilege to represent our office and our team this way."
When Rubio makes his expected return next week, he will have spent 371 days in space.
The record for longest spaceflight overall is held by Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov — 437 days in the mid-1990s.
Rubio initially thought the mission would be six months long, but the spacecraft he was aboard began leaking coolant and NASA said it couldn't make a normal return to Earth. So Russia's space agency, which has two cosmonauts on the craft with Rubio, has sent an uncrewed spacecraft to the International Space Station to bring them home.
Rubio said when faced with the challenges of the mission, he tried to stay positive, relax and communicate with loved ones back home. Having a good team surrounding him also helped.
But if he had known before launch that the mission would last a year, Rubio said, he likely would have refused, because it would be too much time away from his wife and four children.
"But once you commit to the mission, once you're a part of the training, really all the assets and all the preparation that goes into you, the mission kind of counts on you."
Before he was an astronaut, Rubio was a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army, where he flew Blackhawk helicopters and was a combat soldier during deployments in Afghanistan, Iraq and Bosnia. Rubio also received his doctorate of medicine in 2010 and is certified as a family physician and flight surgeon, according to his NASA biography.
NASA astronauts train for up to two years before embarking on a mission to space.
When starting the mission, Rubio said he felt queasy for a couple hours as his body adapted to being without gravity. He felt better the next morning, he added.
When he returns to Earth, it could take two to six months for his body to get used to walking, standing and bearing weight again.
Rubio said he is most looking forward to seeing his family again, the peace and quiet of his backyard and a fresh salad.
