Lifestyle
His spacecraft sprung a leak. Then this NASA astronaut accidentally broke a record
Frank Rubio is helped out of the Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft just minutes after he and cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin landed in a remote area of Kazakhstan on Sept. 27, 2023.
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Frank Rubio is helped out of the Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft just minutes after he and cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin landed in a remote area of Kazakhstan on Sept. 27, 2023.
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NASA astronaut Frank Rubio holds the record for the longest U.S. space flight, but he wasn’t trying to earn that title.
In September 2022, Rubio was deployed to the International Space Station along with two Russian cosmonauts. It was supposed to be a six month mission, but their original ride sprung a coolant leak while docked to the station. That 180-day mission turned into a 371-day stay.
Rubio returned to earth in September 2023. He joined All Things Considered host Ari Shapiro to reflect on the unexpectedly long journey.
This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Interview highlights
Ari Shapiro: When you go to space, there is a whole team making sure everything goes right, checks and re-checks and backup plans. But still, things happen. So how did you feel when you found out that you would be in space six months longer than you had expected?
Frank Rubio: It was initially kind of challenging. But again, we were very, very assured of the fact that the team was going to take care of us. And ultimately, they came to the conclusion that the safest path forward was to send a new spacecraft up.
It was challenging because you knew you’d be away from your family longer than anticipated, but you also knew that they were making the right decision for our safety. And so that obviously made it a little bit more palatable. And bottom line is we’re all mission focused. And we knew that’s what needed to happen to make the mission happen. And so once you got over the initial shock and surprise, you just kind of focused on making the best of it and making sure that the mission was accomplished.
Shapiro: For most of us, a mechanical challenge means we have to, I don’t know, stay home from work for the plumber for a day. This feels like a really big deal. In that moment when you found out what was happening, were you scared? Like, can you take us into how it felt on that day?
Rubio: Well, so first of all, there was no imminent sense of danger because you do take that spacecraft up to the space station. But once you dock, essentially the space station itself becomes your safety vehicle. But you do always have to have a way to get home in case something goes wrong. And so your spacecraft, whether it be a Soyuz or a Dragon, essentially is parked on station so that if anything were to happen, you can quickly get in and get yourself safely back home.
And so for the month or two that the damaged Soyuz was up there, we knew that we were essentially without a completely safe vehicle. But at the same time, the station has been operating for 23 years, and a safety vehicle’s never been necessary in the past. And so even though you had that in the back of your mind, there was no imminent sense of danger. And ultimately, the fact that the team was able to say, “Hey, we’re going to launch an entire new spacecraft to come get you” was a pretty big deal because that’s not an inexpensive endeavor.
Want more on aerial methods of transport? Listen to Consider This on Boeing’s cozy relationship with the Federal Government.
Shapiro: What did you miss most about life on earth?
Rubio: Well, my family for sure. And then, I love the outdoors. And so that was actually really challenging because the space station is great, but it is very small. And it’s a very enclosed space. We say it’s about the size of a two- to three-bedroom house, but really it’s a two- to three-bedroom house composed entirely of hallways, right?
And so there’s no large room that you can go and just enjoy a little bit of space. And our crew quarters, which is really the only privacy you have, is about the size of a small phone booth. And so, yeah, you do have to just be disciplined not to focus on the fact that it’s so enclosed.
And then the rest, it’s really such a incredibly unique experience that you don’t really focus on the fact that you’re in outer space, that you’re traveling at 17,000 miles per hour, you know, the fact that the walls are less than a half-centimeter thick, all those things. Although if you think about them, they could seem really dangerous, I think we all just accept that that’s the place where we’re operating and that it’s worked well for 23 years.
Shapiro: What was it like coming home?
Rubio: It was fantastic. One of my favorite experiences was just the whole process of de-orbiting and appreciating the engineering and the science that goes into making sure that that happens safely every single time a crew comes home is pretty special, right? It all has to work perfectly right every single time, and it has to this point. And so essentially becoming a meteorite yourself as you’re reentering the earth is pretty incredible.
Rubio’s spacecraft landing this past September.
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Rubio’s spacecraft landing this past September.
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Shapiro: NASA has been studying the effects of long-term spaceflight on humans for a while now, and you now hold the record for the longest spaceflight for any American astronaut. So how do you feel physically and mentally? I mean, you’ve been back on land for a few months. Are there lingering effects?
Rubio: Fortunately, again, I’m kind of glad that this happened when it did, which means 23 years into the program, because we’ve kind of figured out how to keep humans healthy up there.
One of the biggest things being resistance exercise, because we found that the biggest effects were really on our musculoskeletal and cardiovascular systems. And so doing strength training and doing cardiovascular training really keeps us in pretty good health. I actually lost less bone density than a lot of the six-month missions used to lose in the past. And that’s just because every day you’re putting in the work and you’re kind of consistently doing that throughout the year.
So I actually felt really, really good when I got home. The only things that kind of hurt were my lower back, and that’s a little bit expected just because even though you’re strengthening it, it’s really not used to keeping your posture every single moment of the day. And then the bottoms of my feet actually hurt quite a bit. And you really can’t train that. And the pressure and the sensitivity that comes with standing and walking was a little bit unexpected. But that’s all resolved. And yeah, I’d say I’m about 90 to 95% back to perfectly normal.
Ariana Grande arrives at the 83rd Golden Globes on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif.
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The brightest stars in TV and film kicked off the 83rd annual Golden Globes tonight in Beverly Hills, Calif. with Ariana Grande, Noah Wyle, Teyana Taylor and George Clooney are just some the names who walked the red carpet. This year’s ceremony was hosted by comedian Nikki Glaser.
Here’s a glimpse of what some of the attendees are wearing tonight.
Michael B. Jordan
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Ryan Coogler and Zinzi Evans
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Jean Smart
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Teyana Taylor
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Owen Cooper
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Sara Wells and Noah Wyle
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Claire Danes
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Stellan Skarsgård and Megan Everett-Skarsgard
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Amy Poehler
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EJAE
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Amanda Anka and Jason Bateman
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Laufey
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Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons
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Chris Olsen
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Macaulay Culkin and Brenda Song
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Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco
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Ryan Destiny
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Rose Byrne
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Kate Hudson
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Snoop Dogg
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Timothée Chalamet
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Miley Cyrus
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George Clooney and Amal Clooney
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Leonardo DiCaprio
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Michel Martin
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Steve Inskeep
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Leila Fadel
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A Martinez
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Ben Falcone and Melissa McCarthy
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Amanda Seyfried
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William Stanford Davis
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Maya Rudolph and Paul Thomas Anderson
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Emma Stone
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Natasha Lyonne and Clea DuVall
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Chloé Zhao
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Mark Ruffalo and Sunrise Coigney
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Sheryl Lee Ralph
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Keegan-Michael Key and Elle Key
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Justin Sylvester
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Glen Powell
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Natasha Rothwell
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Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis
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Minnie Driver
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Orlando Bloom
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Hudson Williams
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Wanda Sykes
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Nikki Glaser
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Queen Latifah
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2026 Golden Globes
Nikki Glaser Shouts Out Rob Reiner …
Dons ‘Spinal Tap’ Hat at Close of Show
Published
Rob Reiner wasn’t forgotten at this year’s Golden Globe awards … because host Nikki Glaser paid tribute to him just weeks after his murder.
Here’s the deal … during the sign-off for the awards show, Nikki came onstage wearing a black and white “Spinal Tap” hat — the band which serves as the subject of Reiner’s iconic 1984 mockumentary of the same name.
Worth noting … the Golden Globes do not typically air an in memoriam — so this was the only time Reiner was mentioned at the show.
As you know … Rob and his wife Michele Singer Reiner were found dead in their Los Angeles home last month. Their son Nick Reiner has been arrested for murder in connection to the case.
TMZ.com
Nick’s arraignment was scheduled for last week … but, his lawyer Alan Jackson dropped out of the case — leaving Nick with a public defender and new arraignment date set for late February.
Jackson told a gaggle of reporters outside the courthouse that Nick’s not guilty … but, he simply can’t defend him. He did not provide a reason for his withdrawal.
Our new documentary “TMZ Investigates The Reiner Murders: What Really Happened” dives into Rob and Michele’s grisly deaths … as well as Nick’s history of mental health issues and even how his weight gain set him on a dangerous path.
“TMZ Investigates The Reiner Murders: What Really Happened” is now streaming on Hulu.
On-air challenge
Today’s puzzle is called “Pet Theory.” Every answer is a familiar two-word phrase or name in which the first word start starts PE- and the second word starts T-. (Ex. What walkways at intersections carry –> PEDESTRIAN TRAFFIC)
1. Chart that lists all the chemical elements
2. Place for a partridge in “The 12 Days of Christmas”
3. Male voyeur
4. What a coach gives a team during halftime in the locker room
5. Set of questions designed to reveal your traits
6. Something combatants sign to end a war
7. Someone who works with you one-on-one with physical exercises
8. Member of the Who
9. Incisors, canines, and premolars that grow in after you’re a baby
10. Nadia Comaneci was the first gymnast to score this at the Olympics
11. What holds the fuel in a British car
Last week’s challenge
Last week’s challenge was a numerical one from Ed Pegg Jr., who runs the website mathpuzzle.com. Take the nine digits — 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. You can group some of them and add arithmetic operations to get 2011 like this: 1 + 23 ÷ 4 x 5 x 67 – 8 + 9. If you do these operations in order from left to right, you get 2011. Well, 2011 was 15 years ago. Can you group some of the digits and add arithmetic symbols in a different way to make 2026? The digits from 1 to 9 need to stay in that order. I know of two different solutions, but you need to find only one of them.
Challenge answer
12 × 34 × 5 – 6 – 7 + 8 – 9 [or] 1 + 2 + 345 × 6 – 7 × 8 + 9
Winner
Daniel Abramson of Albuquerque, N.M.
This week’s challenge
This week’s challenge comes from listener Ward Hartenstein. Think of a well-known couple whose names are often said in the order of _____ & _____. Seven letters in the names in total. Combine those two names, change an E to an S, and rearrange the result to name another famous duo who are widely known as _____ & _____.
If you know the answer to the challenge, submit it below by Thursday, January 15 at 3 p.m. ET. Listeners whose answers are selected win a chance to play the on-air puzzle.
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