NASA astronaut breaks record for longest US spaceflight
Mark Vande Hei's will return to Earth at the end of the month
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei has broken the record for the longest U.S. single spaceflight.
Now, more than 340 days after his April 9, 2021, launch, his record will continue to grow.
NASA CONFIRMS U.S. ASTRONAUT WILL RETURN WITH COSMONAUTS ON RUSSIAN SPACECRAFT LATER THIS MONTH
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}According to Space.com. Vande Hei will surpass NASA astronaut Scott Kelly's March 2, 2013, record.
The 55-year-old retired Army colonel is expected to conclude his trip at 355 days.
Vande Hei is slated to touch down in Kazakhstan, aboard a Russian Soyuz capsule, at the end of the month.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In this photo provided by NASA, U.S. astronaut and Expedition 66 Flight Engineer Mark Vande Hei peers at the Earth below from inside the seven-windowed cupola, the International Space Station's window to the world on Feb. 4, 2022. (Kayla Barron/NASA via AP)
"I didn't know with certainty that the flight would be this long when I launched, but I certainly knew that it was a possibility," he told CBS News in January. "I felt like it was an opportunity to fill a need that we had, and I was very happy to be able to fill it."
The world record of 438 continuous days in space belongs to Russia.
"If they said I needed to stay up longer, I would happily stay up longer, but I would not volunteer to stay up longer," Vande Hei added.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}NASA ASTRONAUT MARK VANDE HEI READIES FOR APRIL FLIGHT TO INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION
Cosmonaut Valery Polyakov flew the longest space mission in history nearly 30 years ago, from January 1994 to March 1995.
NASA's space station program manager Joel Montalbano said Monday that the Russian Space Agency has confirmed it's ready to bring all three men back.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A NASA plane and a small team will be on hand to bring Vande Hei back home to Houston, Texas.
The U.S. and Russia are the main operators of the International Space Station (ISS), which has been permanently occupied for 21 years.
NASA is hoping to keep the ISS running until 2030, although the Russians have not yet committed beyond the original end date of 2024.
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Three more Russians will blast off from Kazakhstan on Friday to replace Pyotr Dubrov – who has been on board just as long – and Anton Shkaplerov.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.