534 Days in Outer Space: Jeff Williams’ NASA Record

After a long mission on the International Space Station, US astronaut Jeff Williams arrived back on planet earth today along with Russian cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Oleg Skripochka. They spent 172 days in outer space as a part of Expeditions 47 and 48.

What’s particularly impressive about this mission, for NASA anyway, is that it sets a new record for the total number of days a NASA astronaut has spent in outer space. After landing today in Kazakhstan, Williams logged a total of 534 days in outer space over the course of his career. That’s practically a year and a half away from his home planet! The previous record was 520 days, logged by Scott Kelly.

Among other tasks, Williams was responsible for installing a new international docking adaptor along with fellow NASA astronaut Kate Rubins and Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi. The installation was successful, and required Williams and Rubins to be outside the station on a “space walk” for almost six hours. As part of Expedition 48, Williams and his Russian companions performed hundreds of experiments, most notably a demonstration of the BEAM habitat (Bigelow Expandable Activity Module).

This 172-day mission was Williams’ fourth space expedition. He handed off command to Anatoly Ivanishin, officially ending Expedition 48 and beginning Expedition 49.

Williams, age 58, Ovchinin and Skripochka are currently recovering and readapting to life in Earth’s gravitational field.

Although Williams’ 534 days in orbit is a record at NASA, he ranks 14 in the world for time spent in outer space. The world record holder is currently Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka, who has spent a total of 878 days over the course of five space flights.

Before entering Earth’s atmosphere, William’s snapped a picture and tweeted it, expressing that he “will certainly miss this view!”