Soyuz MS-23 International Space Station Hatch Closing - Sept. 27, 2023

NASA astronaut Frank Rubio and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergei Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin gave farewell remarks ahead of hatch closure of the Roscosmos Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft on September 27. Following hatch closure, the spacecraft undocked from the International Space Station’s Prichal module, returning to Earth a few hours later for a parachute-assisted landing on the steppe of Kazakhstan. During his mission, Rubio broke the record for longest single spaceflight for a U.S. astronaut spending 371 consecutive days living and working aboard the microgravity laboratory to advance scientific knowledge and demonstrate new technologies for future human and robotic exploration missions as part of NASA’s Moon and Mars exploration approach, including lunar missions through NASA’s Artemis program. .