In Cape Canaveral, Florida, NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams embarked on a 9 ½-month mission that exceeded their original plans. Initially scheduled for an eight-day test flight of Boeing’s Starliner crew capsule, the duo found themselves spending 286 days in space before splashing down with SpaceX on Tuesday.
NASA’s space operations chief Ken Bowersox noted that this unplanned extension represented the largest percentage increase compared to the original mission duration. Bowersox, a former astronaut himself, recalled his own mission being unexpectedly prolonged due to the tragic loss of the shuttle Columbia in 2003.
Various astronauts have faced extended stays in space, whether by choice or circumstance, leading to remarkable spaceflight statistics. Among them, NASA astronaut Frank Rubio endured a 371-day mission, the longest by an American, after his Soyuz capsule suffered damage on the space station. Russian cosmonaut Valery Polyakov holds the world record for the longest spaceflight, spending 14 ½ months on the Mir space station in the mid-1990s.
Other notable achievements include NASA’s Christina Koch’s 328-day space station mission in 2019-2020, making her the record-holder for the longest spaceflight by a woman. Russian astronaut Oleg Kononenko surpassed 1,000 days in space over five flights, while former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson holds America’s most experienced space flier title with 675 days in space.
Williams, who completed two spacewalks during her prolonged mission, became the most experienced female spacewalker in the world with 62 hours of extravehicular activity. These astronauts’ experiences showcase the challenges and achievements of long-duration space missions.
She performed nine spacewalks, one less than Whitson, whose spacewalks totaled 60 hours. Retired Russian cosmonaut Anatoly Solovyev holds the overall record with 16 spacewalks totaling around 80 hours, while NASA’s spacewalking champ is retired astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria with 10 spacewalks totaling 67 hours.
A NASA tally indicates that 721 people have flown in space, including tourists and military X-15 pilots, with 102 of them being women. The first person in space was the Soviet Union’s Yuri Gagarin in 1961, followed by the first American, Mercury astronaut Alan Shepard, and the first women in space, Valentina Tereshkova (Soviet Union) and Sally Ride (USA). Only Tereshkova is still alive.
Currently, NASA has 47 active astronauts, with 20 of them being women, excluding those who have transitioned to management roles at the space agency.
