NASA has shared a video celebrating Mark Vande Hei’s record-breaking keep in house.
The astronaut returned to Earth on Saturday after 355 days aboard the Worldwide House Station — the longest single mission by an American astronaut.
355 days of science, reflection, and life-long friendships. A glance again at NASA Astronaut Mark Vande Hei's record-breaking mission. pic.twitter.com/j9vgZIXYHU
— Worldwide House Station (@Space_Station) March 30, 2022
The 2-minute video is a highlights reel of a mission that lasted greater than 8,500 hours and concerned 5,680 orbits of Earth. Apart from the fun of residing in house, Vande Hei labored on numerous science experiments, dabbled in Earth pictures, and even discovered time for an area dance. However sadly for the astronaut, a possibility for a spacewalk needed to be deserted when a trapped nerve in his neck meant his place was taken by a crewmate (fortunately he can benefit from the recollections of 4 spacewalks he did on a mission 5 years in the past).
Talking lately about his record-breaking mission, Vande Hei stated probably the most memorable elements had been “the occasions after I was simply hanging round, normally at mealtime with my crewmates and laughing so onerous we had been in tears about some remark that someone made.”
Pondering the lows, the 55-year-old astronaut stated the microgravity situations create “a difficult atmosphere … I’ve had numerous congestion and complications … occasions while you simply really feel very bodily uncomfortable. These are in all probability the low factors, it colours the whole lot you’re doing, it takes much more work to remain in the correct way of thinking in these conditions.”
Trying again at a mission that was simply 10 days in need of a full yr, Vande Hei commented: “I all the time thought being an astronaut could be a tremendous factor, by no means thought it could be actual chance, however the factor that all the time impressed me about it was this concept that we get to discover and do it in a approach that advantages all of humanity.”
Whereas most astronauts keep aboard the station for round six months, Vande Hei’s prolonged presence in house offers NASA scientists a novel alternative to be taught from his expertise as they proceed to plan for long-duration crewed missions to the moon and Mars.
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