Frank Rubio He continues to spend his days in Earth orbit and in which he is on his way to becoming the American astronaut who has spent the most time in space. It is very likely that the scientist of Latin origin will stay for 355 days on a mission that should have lasted six months, but was extended due to technical problems in the Russian ship in which he traveled.
The record, for now, is in the hands of Mark Vande Hei, who served 341 days in the International Space Station (ISS). Most likely, this time will be passed, and although it is an important achievement for science and for Frank himself, there are several problems that he will have to face on his return home.
But this was not the original plan. Frank Rubio traveled on the Soyuz MS-22 ship, which suffered a refrigerant leak due to the impact of a micrometeorite and therefore stranded him in space. The six months doubled, and the work on the ISS was extended.
In a recent talk that Rubio held with the Ibero-American Scientific and Cultural News (NCC), the Association of Ibero-American Educational and Cultural Televisions (ATEI) and NASA, the astronaut told how his reaction was when they gave him the news that he was leaving to stay longer than stipulated in Earth’s orbit.
“It was a variety of feelings. In the end this is the mission we have and I knew it has to be completed. Even if it is six months or 12 months, the priority is to continue with the mission for the NASA team, ”she said in a video call that she made from space, for Ibero-American children.
“Personally clear that it was difficult because I was already prepared to see my family, my daughter is already in her first year of university and I would have liked to be there with her. My son is graduating high school this year and I’m not going to be able to take him to college,” she said.
While with respect to the record, although Rubio knows that he will most likely break it, he makes use of a science habit that is seen a lot in sports: cabals or superstitions. The astronaut did not want to “bewitch” what he is heading towards, saying that you should not anticipate anything before it happens.