(Updated) NASA astronaut set to return home after record-breaking stint aboard space station


Devdiscourse News Desk | California | Updated: 04-04-2022 07:57 IST | Created: 28-03-2022 12:37 IST
(Updated) NASA astronaut set to return home after record-breaking stint aboard space station
International Space Station. (Photo Credit - Reuters)
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NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei is scheduled to end his mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS) and return to Earth on Wednesday, March 30 with Roscosmos cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrov.

Vande Hei, who is currently serving as Expedition 66 Flight Engineer, will land with a NASA-record breaking 355 days in space surpassing the agency's former astronaut Scott Kelly's single spaceflight record of 340 days. During his record-breaking space mission, he worked on research ranging from studies of muscle loss to fire safety to kidney health.

The trio will enter the Soyuz MS-19 crew ship, undock from the Rassvet module, and head for a parachute-assisted landing Wednesday, March 30, on the steppe of Kazakhstan.

Before their departure, Shkaplerov will hand over command of the station to NASA astronaut Tom Marshburn during a change of command ceremony.

Earlier this month, astronauts aboard the space station performed two spacewalks on March 15 and 23 to install station upgrades.

Update 1: Landed on Earth

NASA's record-breaking astronaut Mark Vande Hei and two cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrov have landed back on Earth. According to NASA, the trio landed on the steppe of Kazakhstan, southeast of the remote town of Dzhezkazgan, at 7:28 a.m. EDT (5:28 p.m. Kazakhstan time).

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