Energy

NASA Astronaut Breaks Record, Stays In Space For 521 Days And Counting

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Andrew Follett Energy and Science Reporter
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NASA astronaut Jeffrey Williams broke the record  for longest amount of total time in space Wednesday after 521 days in orbit.

Williams surpassed the previous 520-day record set by NASA astronaut Scott Kelly, whose one-year space station mission ended in March. Kelly will still hold the record for longest continuous amount of time in space at 340 days.

Williams commanded the International Space Station (ISS) since March and plans to return to Earth on a Russian Soyuz capsule on Sept. 6. When he returns to Earth, he will have logged 534 days off the planet for NASA.

“It’s great to see another record broken,” Kelly radioed Williams. “But I do have one question for you. And my question is: You got another 190 days in you?”

Kelly was referencing the fact that 13 Russians have spent more time in space than Williams.  The world record of 879 days in space is currently held by Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka.

NASA has not launched an astronaut into space without the help of the Russians for the last 5 years, forcing the U.S. to pay Russia tens of millions of dollars for access to the ISS. Russia has repeatedly threatened to block American access to the $150 billion ISS in response to U.S. sanctions. America paid for 84 percent of the costs associated with building the ISS.

NASA plans to return to Earth’s orbit are entirely dependent on private companies, some of which are scheduled to launch by the end of next year.

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