An American and two Russians return to Earth after record stays on the ISS. NASA boss Bill Nelson hailed a "historic moment in space exploration" The previous record for an American was set in 2022 by astronaut Mark Vande Hei, with 355 consecutive days. The absolute record for the longest space stay is held by Russian cosmonaut Valery Polyakov, with 437 days. But the Soyuz spacecraft that was supposed to bring them back suffered a leak in December, probably due to a micrometeorite impact.