NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei breaks single longest spaceflight record

Mark Vande Hei's new record:

On Tuesday, NASA Astronaut Mark Vande Hei achieved a benchmark by breaking the record of longest U.S. spaceflight. Mark Vande Hei, 55, reached the International Space Station 11 months ago on 9th April 2021. He has been there for 341 days and is expected to return on 30th March 2022 after completing 355 days of his space journey.

Vande will return in the Soyuz spacecraft capsule with Russian cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anton Shkaplerov. The previous record was 15 days in Space that retired NASA Astronaut Scott Kelly achieved.


Spaceflight Mission outcomes:

• NASA Administrator Bill Nelson congratulated Mark and tweeted that Mark's space mission will help NASA understand the effects of a longer duration stay in Space.
• Vande's feedback will help researchers investigate potential injuries such as bruises incurred by astronauts because of the force of landing. This feedback will contribute to a better understanding of long-term spaceflight and injuries.
• Mark's contributions will expand NASA's knowledge about how the human body adapts to long-term spaceflight as the team plans for future missions to the Moon and Mars.

Mark Vande Hei's contributions:

• Vande helped nurture and assess vegetables that were cultivated with the space station's Vegetable Production System for one of the studies. The study intends to create a good food production system that will assist astronauts in their nourishment needs with newly-harvested vegetables in Space.
• For an investigation, Vande Hei provided biological samples that collected a detailed set of measurements, called Spaceflight Standard Measurements. The analysis aims to characterize "normal" changes in the human body during spaceflight.
• Mark Vande Hei is a pioneer and is placed on a mission to help investigators study how an improved diet that can allow astronauts to adapt better to space environments. The analysis will help researchers improve the structure of current and future space food systems.

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