NASA Astronaut Breaks American Spaceflight Record

On Tuesday, March 15, 2022, Vande Hei created history by breaking the record for an American explorer’s most continuous days in space. After spending 355 days in low-Earth orbit, Vande Hei landed at the space station on April 9, 2021, and is scheduled to return home on March 30, 2022. This time is 15 days longer than the previous record, which NASA astronaut Scott Kelly held.

After 355 days in low-Earth orbit, NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei arrived at the International Space Station on April 9, 2021, and is scheduled to come home on March 30, 2022. This time is 15 days longer than the previous record, which retired NASA astronaut Scott Kelly held. Together with cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anton Shkaplerov, Vande Hei will return on a Soyuz spacecraft as planned.

NASA Astronaut contributed to dozens of experiments out of the hundreds carried out during his mission, including six science investigations financed by NASA Human Research Program, or HRP. The astronaut helped grow and evaluate vegetables harvested with the space station vegetable production system for one study. The study also looks to develop food products to help astronauts meet their dietary needs with fresh vegetables cultivated in space.

The astronaut also donated biological samples to an investigation called Spaceflight Standard Measures, which collects a core set of measurements. The study’s goal is to determine what constitutes “normal” modifications in the human body during spaceflight. Wrist-worn sensors, for example, can help researchers better understand astronauts’ sleep-wake cycle by measuring activity levels and light exposure.