Col. Frank Rubio, NASA astronaut and United States Army Col., served as a flight engineer for Expedition 68 aboard the International Space Station (ISS), and on Sept. 21, 2022, was launched into space aboard the Soyuz MS-22.
Michael Mercier | UAH
Colonel. Frank Rubio, NASA astronaut and United States Army Col., was hosted as part of the Distinguished Lecture Series at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH). The event took place in the Student Services Building on the UAH campus, a part of The University of Alabama System. Rubio served as a flight engineer for Expedition 68 aboard the International Space Station (ISS), and on Sept. 21, 2022, was launched into space aboard the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft alongside Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin. The mission lasted 371 days, earning Rubio the record for the longest single-duration spaceflight by a U.S. astronaut.
Originally planned as a 180-day mission, the stay for the trio more than doubled after their original ride was hit by an object and lost all its coolant while docked to the ISS. “Our spacecraft was struck by a micro meteorite,” Rubio explained. “We weren't confident that we could return safely in that spacecraft, and so we ended up extending by another six months,” ultimately two weeks longer in space than Mark Vande Hei, NASA’s previous record holder. Rubio traveled more than 157 million miles, almost 6,000 orbits around the Earth, and took part in three spacewalks totaling 21 hours and 24 minutes.
“Those are probably the most physically challenging things we do,” Rubio said of the extravehicular activities. “Josh [NASA astronaut Josh Cassada] and I did three spacewalks each that lasted about seven and a half hours. We both prepared for and set up two new solar rings. You're exhausted, but you're exhilarated because you've done something really challenging, and it went according to plan. So, for the next six and a half months after that, it was cool to look out the window and know that we had permanently changed the way the ISS works. Watching those things deploy is an engineering marvel.”
Dr. Rubio is a board-certified family physician and flight surgeon. Prior to joining NASA in 2017, the Florida native graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in 1998 and earned a Doctorate of Medicine. He served as a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter pilot where he flew more than 1,100 hours, including more than 600 hours of combat and imminent danger time during deployments to Bosnia, Afghanistan and Iraq. He has held numerous leadership roles as a platoon leader in A Company, 2-82nd Assault Aviation (REDHAWKS) and as a company commander in A Company, 2-3rd Aviation (STORM). He later acted as a clinic supervisor and flight surgeon at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Ala. He has been awarded numerous honors during his career, including the Defense Superior Service Medal and the Legion of Merit.
To prepare for the mission, the speaker had to leave his family behind and travel to Russia for two years of extensive training. “All the astronauts that go to space have to maintain at least an intermediate level of fluency in both English and Russian,” Rubio said. “I knew zero Russian when I showed up here. So, we all had to learn the language to an intermediate level, which was actually much more difficult than I anticipated.”
In addition, the NASA astronaut’s mission came during a period of tricky diplomacy in 2022, the year of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. “We used to have a long-standing partnership with the Russians,” the speaker explained. “Turned out our mission would be the first one to restart that partnership. When the Ukraine war took off, we stopped flying together for a short amount of time. So, one of the biggest honors for me was kind of reestablishing that partnership, just because of the long history that NASA and Roscosmos had together.”
Rubio’s research aboard the ISS included growing tomatoes, 3D printing knee cartilage, and studies on human physiology and space technologies to prepare for future deep space missions. “We worked on all sorts of experiments, from materials science to biological sciences,” he noted.
The astronaut had to learn a wide variety of systems, “Primarily the international space station systems,” he says. “You had to become an expert on those, because once you're up there, you're going to become the plumber, the electrician and general handyman.”
At long last, after a number of administrative postings and various duties to gain experience in the mission programs, it was go for launch.
“After two weeks of quarantine, this is the part that you dreamed about, getting on the rocket,” the speaker said. “Eight minutes later, you're flying a little over 15,000 miles an hour. You're out of the atmosphere, and about two-and-a-half hours later, we were docking with the International Space Station, which actually is a pretty incredible engineering achievement.”
The speaker said one of the most challenging aspects of the mission was the psychological toll such a lengthy stay takes in such a closed, forbidding environment.
“What you think is going to happen probably is not going to happen. It’s okay to be upset about that initially,” Rubio said. “But, it’s really your job to just make the most of it, make whatever team you're on amazing, and then do everything you can to help the people around you succeed. Every time you're feeling down or maybe a little upset or just need a reminder you're doing something pretty special, you look out the window and everything's all better. You're supported by an incredible team on the ground, both in Houston, here in Marshall and throughout the world.”
A particular highlight was knowing at long last he was truly about to return. “Honestly, I didn’t fully let myself believe I was coming home,” the speaker said. “And then next thing you know, two-and-a-half hours later, you're reentering the atmosphere. After being up there so long, we probably were a little bit more debilitated than most, but it's amazing how quickly you adapt. Twenty-four hours later, I landed in Houston, and I was able to walk downstairs from the aircraft and hug the people who had made it all happen and supported me, and of course, my family.”