The American of Salvadoran origin, Frank Rubio, holder of the record for the longest stay of an astronaut in space, received this Thursday one of the rarest and most prestigious insignia awarded by the US Army, currently in the hands of only two other active military personnel. .
Rubio was awarded the Army Astronaut Badge, given to military personnel who have successfully completed an operational mission in space. “This is one of the most unique qualifications in the entire Army,” acknowledged Army Secretary Christine Wormuth.
“You inspired audiences around the world while orbiting the Earth for 371 days and now, back on Earth, you continue to inspire others as you share your experience with the public,” Wormuth said during the award ceremony, held at the Pentagon.
Rubio, who was born in Los Angeles but spent the first six years of his life in El Salvador, served on missions in Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan, graduated as a helicopter pilot and military doctor, before entering the Administration’s space program. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in 2017.
“For me, the biggest honor that comes with this badge is the fact that, to me, it is the ultimate team badge; you can’t get to space on your own. And so, no matter how talented you are, no matter what you’ve done in your experience, it takes a team of thousands to get you into space,” Rubio said during the ceremony.
NASA congratulated the astronaut with an “Excelsior!” and assured: “what we learned from his record 371 days in space is preparing us for future Artemis missions to the Moon and beyond.”
The astronaut returned to Earth last September with two Russian cosmonauts, Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin, after being trapped in space for more than a year, on what was initially going to be a 180-day trip.
Rubio, Prokopyev and Petelin traveled back in a replacement Soyuz capsule, after their original vehicle lost its entire coolant reserve when it was hit by space debris while docked at the International Space Station (ISS).
This delayed the return until the new capsule was available. As a result, Rubio stayed in space about two weeks longer than Mark Vande Hei, who held the previous NASA record for a single spaceflight.
Since 1978, the collaboration between the Army and NASA has produced 19 astronauts from that military branch. “As humans explore more space and NASA returns to the Moon and sets its sights beyond the Moon on Mars, the Army will continue to play an important role in space exploration in the future,” Secretary Wormuth said.
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