Salvadoran-born NASA astronaut, Frank Rubio, is set to return to Earth on Wednesday, marking a historic moment in space exploration. Rubio’s journey back to our planet will take place in the early hours of Wednesday aboard the Soyuz MS-23/69S spacecraft, scheduled to land in Kazakhstan. What makes this return particularly noteworthy is that Rubio has completed an incredible 371 days in space, surpassing the previous record for the longest stay by an American astronaut.
Rubio’s return journey will be shared with Commander Sergei Prokopyev and Copilot Dmitri Petelin, both fellow crew members of the Russian Soyuz spacecraft. The trio embarked on their mission in September 2022, initially planning for a six-month stay aboard the International Space Station (ISS), which is the standard duration for long-duration missions.
However, their mission took an unexpected turn when a coolant leak rendered their initial spacecraft, Soyuz MS-22/68S, unusable in December. This forced the Russian space agency to launch a replacement, Soyuz MS-23/69S, in February. Consequently, Prokopyev, Petelin, and Rubio had to extend their stay in space by an additional six months to realign with the Russian crew rotation schedule.
According to NASA sources cited by CBS News, the spacecraft carrying the three crew members, including the Salvadoran-American astronaut, will undock from the ISS at 3:54 a.m. Eastern Time (2:00 a.m. El Salvador time).
The return plan involves a dramatic re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere, with the crew module of the Soyuz spacecraft making a rough landing near the city of Dzhezkazgan in the vast steppes of Kazakhstan, Central Asia.
During a brief change of command ceremony held on Tuesday, Expedition 69 ISS Commander Prokopyev handed over control of the laboratory to European Space Agency astronaut Andreas Mogensen. Mogensen praised the returning astronauts for their resilience, professionalism, and grace in the face of unexpected challenges and significant uncertainty.
“It’s one thing to launch into space knowing you’ll be here for a year,” Mogensen remarked. “It’s entirely different for you and your families to find out toward the end of your six-month mission that you’ll be spending another six months in space. But you took it in stride and excelled,” he praised Prokopyev, Petelin, and Rubio for their “competence, dedication, and hard work” in maintaining the station and preparing for the success of Expedition 70.
“We hope to leave the space station in the same condition we found it,” Mogensen concluded. “No one deserves more than you to return home to your families. We wish you a safe flight and a smooth landing.”
Prokopyev, Petelin, and Rubio will be replaced by Commander Oleg Kononenko, Flight Engineer Nicolai Chub, and NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara aboard Soyuz MS-24/70S.
As the crew members bid farewell to their fellow station inhabitants, they will float into their replacement Soyuz MS-23/69S spacecraft and await undocking from the Russian multipurpose module Prichal.
Assuming a timely landing, the crew will have logged 370 days, 21 hours, and 22 minutes away from Earth, completing a journey spanning 5,936 orbits.
Back in El Salvador, Mirna Argueta, the mother of astronaut Frank Rubio, along with students from various educational institutions, will witness her son’s splashdown through NASA’s live broadcast. The scheduled time for the event is 5:17 a.m., local time.
In anticipation of this historic moment, an event has been organized in front of the Conchagua parish in La Unión, the hometown of the astronaut’s mother. This event, arranged in collaboration with a private company and the local municipality, has invited students and residents from the municipality and the departmental capital to witness this significant moment for El Salvador and the world on a giant screen.
Frank Rubio’s return to Earth after his record-setting space journey is a testament to human endurance, determination, and the spirit of exploration that drives us to reach new heights, both on and beyond our planet.