Record-Setting NASA Astronaut Frank Rubio Has Reached One Full Year in Space

NASA astronaut and Expedition 68 Flight Engineer Frank Rubio is pictured working inside the International Space Station’s Quest airlock. Credit: NASA

Expedition 69 crew members on the ISS marked a busy week with cleaning, maintenance, and experiments. Frank Rubio, Sergey Prokopyev, and Dmitri Petelin celebrated a year in space, while others contributed to diverse tasks and scientific investigations.

As the Expedition 69 crew members near the end of their work week, the ten orbital residents completed a variety of cleaning and maintenance tasks on Thursday, September 21, aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

After arriving to the orbital outpost on September 21, 2022, NASA astronaut Frank Rubio has reached one full year in space today. His record-breaking mission has included dozens of scientific investigations that have helped researchers better understand how humans thrive while living and working in space. Rubio spent most of his 365^th day on station upkeep, performing maintenance on the Human Research Facility, removing and replacing its pressure sensor block. In the evening, he collected biological samples for the ongoing Standard Measures investigation.

NASA astronaut and Expedition 68 Flight Engineer Frank Rubio peers through one of the seven windows in the cupola, the International Space Station’s “window to the world.” Credit: NASA

Flight Engineers Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O’Hara of NASA began their day in the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) cleaning smoke detectors. The duo then split up after lunch, Moghbeli removing and replacing cables on the network router in the Destiny Laboratory Module, while O’Hara studied training materials on the station’s new Potable Water Dispenser. O’Hara then joined ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Andreas Mogensen to review spacesuit operations.

Meanwhile, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) Flight Engineer Satoshi Furukawa kick-started his day with the required two hours of exercise for astronauts, using the station’s bike, CEVIS, and the Advanced Resistive Exercise Device, or ARED. The rest of his day was spent working in JEM, collecting samples from the Water Recovery System for future analysis.

NASA astronaut and Expedition 68 Flight Engineer Frank Rubio is pictured conducting maintenance tasks inside the International Space Station’s Harmony module. Credit: NASA

The five Roscosmos cosmonauts living in low-Earth orbit worked on separate tasks today as two prepare to head home to Earth next week. Flight Engineer Konstantin Borisov worked in the Nauka module, removing and replacing vacuum pumps, while Flight Engineer Nikolai Chub ran the 3D printer in the Zvezda service module. Their fellow cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, who arrived to the orbiting laboratory just last week with O’Hara and Chub, ran an experiment that assesses cardiovascular and respiratory function.

The other two long-serving station residents, Commander Sergey Prokopyev and Flight Engineer Dmitri Petelin, reached one year in space today along with Rubio. The duo spent their 365^th day continuing to prepare for their journey back home to Earth next week on September 27.