MOSCOW: Two Russian cosmonauts and an American astronaut safely returned to Earth after a year-long mission at the International Space Station (ISS), said Russia’s Roscosmos space agency on Wednesday.
Roscosmos reported that cosmonauts Sergei Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin, along with NASA astronaut Francisco Rubio, touched down near Kazakhstan’s city of Jezkazgan. The Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft carrying them executed a “normal mode” landing at 1117 GMT.
This mission marked a record-breaking duration for Prokopyev and Petelin, who spent “370 days, 21 hours, and 22 minutes in space, making it the longest flight under the ISS program,” as stated by Roscosmos.
NASA also confirmed their safe return, with a tweet stating, “Frank Rubio is back on Earth after 371 days, marking the single longest spaceflight for any of our NASA astronauts.”
Welcome home, Frank!
The single longest spaceflight for any of our @NASA_Astronauts comes to a close. Frank Rubio is back on Earth after 371 days. His extended mission to the @Space_Station will help us shape the future of deep space exploration. pic.twitter.com/nR88RA6vqC
— NASA (@NASA) September 27, 2023
Russian, US Astronauts Space Mission
Originally planned as a six-month mission, the trio’s extended stay was necessitated by a Soyuz spacecraft leak, likely caused by a minor meteorite impact. Moscow subsequently dispatched an unmanned rocket to replace the crew.
During their year on the ISS, the Russian and American astronauts carried out the mission of the crew originally scheduled to replace them. This prolonged stay at the ISS occurred against the backdrop of increased tensions between the United States and Russia due to the Ukraine conflict.
