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A NASA The astronaut was caught on his way back to Earth Wednesday after a Russian voyage with two cosmonauts back to a war-torn world, following a US record of 355 days aboard the International Space Station.
Mark Vande Hei He landed on a Soyuz capsule in Kazakhstan with Anton Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrov of the Russian Space Agency, who spent the last year in space.
Despite rising tensions between the United States and the United States, Russia On Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war with Ukraine, Vande Hei‘s return followed traditional procedures. Small NASA The team of doctors and other personnel was ready for landing and planned to return immediately. Houston With the 55-year-old astronaut.
even before RussiaInvasion of Ukraine on February 24, Vande Hei said he is was avoiding the subject with her two Russian crew. Although “Fantasticly… I’m not sure we really want to go there” he is said.
It was the first taste of gravity Vande Hei and Dubrov since the Soyuz launched on April 9 last year. Shkaplerov joined them at the orbiting laboratory in October and briefly accompanied a Russian film crew. To meet this visit, Vande Hei and Dubrov doubled their stay.
Before leaving the space station, Shkaplerov embraced his fellow astronauts as “my space brothers and space sisters.”
“People have problems on Earth. In orbit… we are a team, ”Shkaplerov said live on air. NASA Tuesday TV broadcast. The space station is a symbol of “the future of friendship and cooperation and … space exploration.”
War tensions in other areas of space escalated as the launch of European satellites to Russian rockets was suspended and the Euro-Russia Mars rover stayed on Earth for another two years.
Vande Hei is left behind NASAThe previous record for longest single spaceflight with 15 days. Dubrov moved RussiaThat’s well behind the 437-day 17-hour marathon that was set as a world record by a cosmonaut-doctor aboard the Mir space station in the 1990s.
“Broken records mean we’re making progress,” he said. NASAThe former space endurance champion, retired astronaut Scott Kelly, whose 340-day mission ended in 2016.
like Kelly, Vande Hei during medical tests. her stay longer NASAthe quest to take astronauts back to the moon and Mars. he is said daily meditation helps he is coping during the task, twice as long her first station mission four years ago.
“I’ve had a 24/7 indoor job for almost a year, so I’m looking forward to being outside whatever the weather.” Vande Hei said in a recent drama NASA videos. As for food, he isHe looks forward to making a cup of coffee for himself and his wife, Julie, and digging into the guacamole and chips.
Remains on board: three Russians who arrived two weeks ago and three Americans and one German who have been on board since November. replacements within three weeks Space X. Next week, Space X Three wealthy businessmen and former astronauts will fly to the station for a one-week visit organized by private Axiom Space.
Elon Musk’s Space X started to carry NASA astronauts to the station in 2020, nine years after the shuttle program ended. During this gap, Russia with the taxi service alone. NASA Soyuz bombs tens of millions of dollars per seat. Vande Hei‘s journey was part of a barter exchange. Houstonbased axiom.
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The Associated Press Department of Health and Science receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. Only AP is responsible for all content.
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