NASA astronaut and Expedition 68 Flight Engineer Frank Rubio is pictured inside the cupola, the International Space Station’s “window to the world,” as the orbiting lab flew 263 miles above southeastern England on Oct. 1, 2022.
NASA/Frank Rubio
NASA astronaut Frank Rubio poses for a picture in the International Space Station’s cupola on Oct. 1, 2022.
Rubio was selected as a NASA astronaut in 2017. He trained as a flight engineer and member of the Expedition 68 crew. Rubio, along with cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin of Roscosmos, launched Sept. 21, 2022, on the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to the space station.
While aboard the orbital laboratory, Rubio and his fellow crew members conducted dozens of scientific investigations and technology demonstrations, including growing tomato plants to study hydroponic and aeroponic techniques, participating in crew health experiments, and studying how materials react in microgravity. Research like this and other activity on the orbital outpost will inform long-duration missions like Artemis and future human expeditions to Mars.
Rubio spent 371 days in space, surpassing NASA’s single spaceflight record for continuous days in space made by astronaut Mark Vande Hei. Rubio and his crewmates landed in Kazakhstan on Sept. 27, 2023. Rubio’s mission is the longest single spaceflight by a U.S. astronaut in history.
Image credit: NASA/Frank Rubio
NASA宇航员兼第68号远征队飞行工程师弗兰克·卢比奥（Frank Rubio）在国际空间站的穹顶舱（被称为“通向世界的窗口”）内拍摄的照片，拍摄时间为2022年10月1日。当时空间站正飞行在英格兰东南部上空263英里处。
图片来源：NASA/Frank Rubio
2022年10月1日，NASA宇航员弗兰克·卢比奥（Frank Rubio）在国际空间站的穹顶舱内合影留念。
卢比奥于2017年入选NASA宇航员，随后接受训练成为第68号远征队的飞行工程师和机组成员。2022年9月21日，他与俄罗斯航天局的宇航员谢尔盖·普罗科皮耶夫（Sergey Prokopyev）和德米特里·佩特林（Dmitry Petelin）一同从哈萨克斯坦拜科努尔航天发射场，乘坐联盟MS-22飞船前往空间站。
在轨期间，卢比奥与队友们开展了数十项科学研究和技术实验，包括种植番茄以研究水培和气雾培技术、参与机组健康实验，以及研究材料在微重力环境中的反应。这些研究与活动为像阿尔忒弥斯这样的长期任务，以及未来人类前往火星的探险提供了重要参考。
卢比奥在太空中累计停留了371天，打破了由宇航员马克·范德·海（Mark Vande Hei）保持的NASA单次连续太空飞行天数纪录。他与队友于2023年9月27日在哈萨克斯坦安全着陆。这一任务也成为美国宇航员历史上最长的单次太空飞行。
图片来源：NASA/Frank Rubio
