Four astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) broke a 47-year-old record after spending the longest time in space by a crew launched from American soil.
The astronauts, collectively known as Crew-1 – Michael Hopkins, Shannon Walker and Victor Glover of NASA and Soichi Noguchi of the Japanese Space Agency (JAXA) – were also the first full mission crew to be transported in orbit by a private company. (A smaller demonstration mission to the ISS, manned by just two astronauts who stayed in space for a short time, preceded Crew-1 several months.) Crew-1 arrived aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule that was launched into orbit by a SpaceX Falcon 9. rocket, from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on November 15, Live Science sister site Space.com reported earlier.
On Sunday (February 7), the Crew-1 astronauts took their place in the history books after spending their 85th day aboard the ISS, according to NASA.
The previous record of 84 days was set in 1974 by the Skylab 4 crew, the final mission aboard NASA’s first space station Skylab. Since then, other astronauts who have made astronauts have been part of the missions launched from other countries. According to NASA, SpaceX’s Crew-1 is the first manned mission launched from the US since the spacecraft retired in 2011.
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NASA took to Twitter to celebrate the achievement, which coincidentally coincided with Super Bowl LV in Tampa, Florida.
Rise n ‘shine, it’s time for the game! Your space-based #SuperBowlSunday highlights: S @SpaceX Crew-1 @NASA_Astronauts break US space record🚀 ~ 45 minutes after launch, the @Space_Station flies over the city #SBLV, Tampa, FL Check out the details: https://t.co / 5zqMM5imGV pic.twitter.com/oE1yMtO9Xr7 February 2021
The Crew-1 astronauts will almost certainly extend their record if they complete their six-month stay on the ISS. SpaceX’s next crew is expected to launch in April when Crew-2 orbits to replace their predecessors. according to Space.com.
Originally published on Live Science.