Working and living on a space station such as the International Space Station (ISS) is regarded as a once-in-a-lifetime experience, but it comes with many challenges, so life in space is not easy.
NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, who just spent nine months aboard the ISS along with fellow astronaut Butch Wilmore, will return to Earth next week. Recalling her lengthy stay, Williams said that the most challenging thing about life in space was not the lack of gravity or any other aspects of space living. Rather, it was uncertainty regarding the timeframe for their return to Earth.
Williams and Wilmore, who were originally sent on an eight-day journey, remained more than 270 days in space due to issues with their return craft. They were sent to the ISS to conduct spacewalks, scientific experimentation, and help maintain station operations. They are coming back on a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft leaving next week with a relief crew.
Astronauts with Extended Space Missions
In the history of space exploration, several astronauts have had to deal with long-duration missions in space. Some of these records are as follows:
- Valeri Polyakov: The Russian cosmonaut holds the record for the longest solo spaceflight, during which he stayed on the Mir space station for 437 days from January 1994 to March 1995.
- Frank Rubio: A NASA astronaut, Rubio spent 371 days on the ISS, the US astronaut’s longest continuous spaceflight.
- Mark Vande Hei: A second NASA astronaut, Vande Hei spent 355 consecutive days on the ISS, giving valuable insights into long-duration spaceflight.
- Scott Kelly: Kelly spent 340 days on the ISS, providing vital data on the human body’s reaction to long-duration spaceflight.
- Christina Koch: Koch is the record holder for the longest individual flight of a woman, with 328 days spent on the ISS between March 2019 and February 2020.
Williams’ Upcoming Milestone
Sunita Williams is currently gearing up to make a remarkable milestone with her return. Originally set for an eight-day flight, her duration on the ISS has exceeded 270 days due to the technical malfunctions of the spacecraft. Williams had taken off for the ISS on June 5, 2024, on Boeing’s Starliner but because of a series of technical problems, the spacecraft was not safe to transport the crew back, leaving Williams and Wilmore stranded.
The Starliner flew back to Earth in September without the astronauts, and NASA has now scheduled their safe return on Elon Musk’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission.
This mission brings out the physical and psychological strain of long-duration space travel and the difficulties faced by the astronauts while in space.