Children who helped create a badge for a space mission met the record-setting astronaut, who spent 371 days aboard the International Space Station and is preparing for NASA’s Artemis III mission.
A group of schoolchildren who helped design a badge sent into space had the opportunity to meet NASA astronaut Frank Rubio during a special school visit. The event brought students face to face with a veteran space explorer whose career includes the longest single spaceflight completed by an American astronaut.
Among the pupils attending were Harry, Sofia and nine-year-old Lola, who listened as Rubio discussed his experience working aboard the International Space Station. The meeting gave the children an opportunity to learn about space exploration from someone who had spent more than a year living and working in orbit.
The visit followed a school project in which children helped create a badge that was eventually carried into space. According to the account attributed to the BBC, the school also plans to design another badge for a future orbital journey.
The project connected classroom creativity with space exploration, giving pupils a reason to learn about astronauts, spacecraft and the scientific work conducted beyond Earth.
A Special Visit From a Record-Breaking Astronaut
Rubio addressed the children during a gathering in the school hall. His appearance gave the pupils an opportunity to hear about the challenges of space travel and the experience of working aboard an orbiting research laboratory.
For Harry and Sofia, meeting the astronaut was a particularly exciting part of the project. Lola, another pupil who attended, was also among the children learning about his career and experiences.
The visit brought an unusual perspective to school science activities. Instead of studying spaceflight only through books and classroom lessons, the children were able to encounter someone who had participated directly in an extended NASA mission.
Rubio’s experience provided a connection to the realities of living in space. Astronauts aboard the International Space Station must work in microgravity, complete demanding scientific assignments and maintain their equipment while living far from Earth.
The station also functions as a laboratory where researchers investigate how conditions in space affect the human body, materials and technology. Those investigations support preparations for future missions beyond low Earth orbit.
Frank Rubio’s 371-Day Journey in Space
Rubio traveled to the International Space Station on September 21, 2022, aboard Russia’s Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft. He launched with cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
His mission was originally expected to last approximately six months. However, a coolant leak affecting the Soyuz spacecraft prompted changes to the crew’s return arrangements, extending the astronauts’ time in orbit.
Rubio eventually returned to Earth on September 27, 2023, after completing 371 days in space. His achievement established a United States record for the longest continuous spaceflight by an American astronaut.
During that mission, Rubio traveled more than 157 million miles and completed approximately 5,936 orbits of Earth. He also participated in three spacewalks totaling more than 21 hours.
His assignments included installing upgraded solar arrays that provide electricity to the International Space Station. He also contributed to scientific investigations examining subjects ranging from biology to the behavior of physical systems in microgravity.
The extended mission offered NASA valuable information about the effects of spending a prolonged period in space. Understanding those effects is important as the agency prepares for longer journeys involving the Moon and potentially Mars.
Preparing for NASA’s Artemis III Mission
Rubio’s next assignment will bring him into another major chapter of space exploration. NASA selected him in June 2026 as a mission specialist for Artemis III, a planned mission scheduled for 2027.
Unlike earlier plans that called for Artemis III to land astronauts on the lunar surface, NASA’s updated mission will focus on testing spacecraft operations in low Earth orbit. Those tests are intended to help prepare for a future crewed lunar landing.
Rubio will join NASA astronauts Randy Bresnik and Andre Douglas, along with European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano. The four-person crew will use NASA’s Orion spacecraft to test operations involving commercial lunar landing systems.
The mission is expected to demonstrate rendezvous and docking procedures needed for later expeditions to the Moon. NASA currently plans its first crewed Artemis lunar landing for Artemis IV in 2028.
Rubio brings an unusual combination of experience to that assignment. Before becoming an astronaut, he served as a U.S. Army helicopter pilot and physician.
He was selected for NASA’s astronaut program in 2017 and later trained for his first spaceflight. His professional background includes military aviation, medicine and extensive operational experience.
Another Badge Could Travel Into Orbit
The school project is expected to continue with another badge design intended for a future journey into space. That would give additional pupils an opportunity to contribute their ideas to an activity connected with space exploration.
Designing a mission badge can bring together several subjects that schools traditionally teach separately. Students can combine artwork with scientific knowledge while considering what symbols best represent exploration, teamwork and discovery.
The activity also gives children a tangible connection to space missions that might otherwise seem distant from everyday life. Knowing that an object they helped design traveled beyond Earth can make lessons about space science more immediate.
For the pupils who met Rubio, the experience offered something beyond the badge itself. They encountered a person whose work involves scientific research, complex technology and years of preparation.
NASA has long supported educational activities designed to introduce students to science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Astronaut appearances can help explain how those subjects connect with actual missions and professional careers.
The school has not provided a publicly verified launch date for the proposed second badge in the information available for this report. Details about which spacecraft would carry it also remain unconfirmed.
For Harry, Sofia, Lola and their classmates, meeting Rubio brought their badge project into direct contact with the world of human spaceflight. Their next design could give another group of pupils the opportunity to see their classroom work connected to a mission beyond Earth.
IMAGE: 2017 NASA Astronaut Candidate – Frank Rubio. Photo Date: June 6, 2017. Location: Ellington Field – Hangar 276, Tarmac. Photographer: Robert Markowitz. Photo: Robert Markowitz / Wikimedia, Public domain