Scott Kelly's Formerly "Longest Continuous Duration In Space" Record -- For Any Human -- Has Fallen. Frank Rubio Now Holds It, At 371 Days.

To be certain, this is an advance in space science learnings -- for potential crewed missions to Mars, for example.

But as we may readily see in the photo at right (and as we learned from Scott Kelly's time aloft) the micro-gravity, and let's be honest -- radiation -- takes a toll on human bodily integrity and saps... muscle strength.

It is my somewhat informed opinion that we ought not send a crew to Mars until we develop much better radiation shielding, for the harsh environment, on the way out -- and the way back. But science did advance last week, with his safe return. Here's that story:

. . .Expedition 69 NASA astronaut Frank Rubio is carried to a medical tent shortly after he, and Roscosmos cosmonauts Dmitri Petelin and Sergey Prokopyev landed in their Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan on Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023.

The trio. . . returned to Earth after logging 371 days in space as members of Expeditions 68-69 aboard the International Space Station. For Rubio, his mission is the longest single spaceflight by a U.S. astronaut in history. . . .

Now you know -- but being carried to a med-tent after just over a year, suggests wasting/safety may be an important factor -- in any future attempt, to send a crew to Mars. That's likely to be close to two and a half- to three- year journey -- round trip.

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