'I would have declined': NASA's Rubio reflects on full year in space

“If they had asked me up front before training, because you do train for a year or two years for your mission, I probably would have declined,” Rubio told reporters on Tuesday during a live broadcast from the International Space Station . “It would have hurt, but I would have declined.”Rubio launched to the ISS on September 21, 2022 on board a Russian Soyuz crew capsule.

“Had I known that I had to miss those very important events, I just would have had to say ‘thank you, but no thank you.’”Rubio’s mission was extended from a six-month stay on board the space station to a little over a year. The NASA astronaut is set to return to Earth on September 27, logging in 371 days in Earth orbit and becoming the first U.S. astronaut, and one of only six people, to spend a year in space.

It’s a rare insight into the mindset of astronauts who have to spend months away from home. “When it finally became real that it was gonna require me to stay for a full year … it was difficult,” Rubio said. The mission also marked Rubio’s first time in space.If all goes well, Rubio will board a Soyuz MS-23 in a week’s time and return back to the surface of his home planet.

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