Earth is encircled by millions of pieces of trash, called "space junk," which orbit our planet and are the bane of astronomers' existence. This garbage has had devastating impact on at least one American astronaut, Frank Rubio, who returned to Earth on Wednesday after space junk is suspected to have hit the International Space Station last year. As a consequence, a trip that was supposed to last only 180 days dragged on for 371 days while Rubio and his Russian colleagues waited for a replacement team.
If there is any silver lining, it is that Rubio's inadvertently year-long stay in space earned him a record: He now has spent more time in space than any other American, beating the record held by NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei. That said, Rubio's achievement is only national; internationally, Russia has the record, having stayed in space for as long as 437 days, a milestone set in the mid '90s.
