NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei breaks record for longest continuous spaceflight

[Still Waters]

NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei has broken the record for longest US human spaceflight, a title former astronaut Scott Kelly has held since 2016.

Tuesday marks 341 consecutive days in space for Vande Hei, surpassing Kelly's record-breaking 340-day stint aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

But the achievement comes amid volatile relations between the US and Russia in space. Russia has stopped selling rocket engines to the US, following sanctions President Biden imposed in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

https://www.sciencealert.com/a-new-astronaut-has-just-broken-scott-kelly-s-incredible-record-of-340-days-in-space

[Still Waters]

US astronaut ends record-long spaceflight in Russian capsule (Update)

A NASA astronaut caught a Russian ride back to Earth on Wednesday after a U.S. record 355 days at the International Space Station, returning with two cosmonauts to a world torn apart by war.

Mark Vande Hei landed in a Soyuz capsule in Kazakhstan alongside the Russian Space Agency's Pyotr Dubrov, who also spent the past year in space, and Anton Shkaplerov. Wind blew the capsule onto its side following touchdown, and the trio emerged into the late afternoon sun one by one.

Vande Hei, the last one out, grinned and waved as he was carried to a reclining chair out in the open Kazakh steppes.

"Beautiful out here," said Vande Hei, putting on a face mask and ballcap.

https://phys.org/news/2022-03-russian-iss-record-holders-earth.html