Grandpa breaks record for most days in outer space
Astronaut (and proud grandfather) Jeff Williams reached a major milestone this week, breaking the record for most cumulative days in space by an American.
On Wednesday Williams surpassed the 520 day record previously held by NASA colleague Scott Kelly. By the time Williams returns to Planet Earth on September 6, he will have spent an extremely impressive 534 days in outer space in total.
The record for most cumulative days in outer space is still held by Russia’s Gennady Padalka, who put together 879 days, but Williams’ achievements is nothing to shirk at. But if you ask the astronaut himself, the American record is just another number.
In a recent interview with CBS News, Williams said, “What comes to mind is just the honour of being part of the International Space Station from the beginning all the way through the assembly to now, and working with this great team. I would say the partnership has never been stronger than it is today. It occurred to me yesterday, I haven’t seen it this productive, we’re doing very significant work, since we were assembling this thing with a visiting shuttle crew.”
Williams is now looking to spend more time on our planet, with his grandchildren.
What an achievement! Send messages of congratulations in the comments.
Related links:
Astronaut posts amazing photos of the UK from space
NASA astronaut shares pictures of first flowers grown in space
Astronaut plays Amazing Grace on bagpipes from space