Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams aren’t the first to experience delays in space, but their 9½-month mission sets a new record for length. Their test flight of Boeing’s Starliner crew capsule was expected to last eight days, but they spent 286 days off the planet – 36 times longer than anticipated.
Several astronauts have faced similar challenges, including Frank Rubio and Scott Kelly, who saw their missions extended due to unexpected events. NASA astronaut Ken Bowersox experienced a prolonged mission after his space station was damaged during reentry in 2003.
The longest U.S. spaceflight record belongs to Frank Rubio, with a 371-day stay aboard the space station. The world’s longest spaceflight record is held by Russian cosmonaut Valery Polyakov, who spent 14½ months on the Mir space station in the mid-1990s.
Christina Koch holds the title for longest spaceflight by a woman, spending 328 days at the space station. Peggy Whitson and Suni Williams are tied for second place with 608 and 562 days in space, respectively.
Female spacewalkers have also achieved notable milestones. Christina Koch became the most experienced female spacewalker with 62 hours of spacewalking experience.
Some interesting statistics include:
– The longest U.S. spaceflight was by Frank Rubio (371 days).
– The world’s longest spaceflight record is held by Valery Polyakov (437 days).
– Christina Koch holds the title for longest spaceflight by a woman (328 days).
– Peggy Whitson and Suni Williams are tied for second place with 608 and 562 days in space, respectively.
– Anatoly Solovyev holds the overall spacewalking record with 16 spacewalks totaling around 80 hours.
Source: https://apnews.com/article/nasa-stuck-astronauts-butch-suni-834c3dd3bd50dc6be8e9ed1812ac7839