Who else has been stuck in space? A short history of long spaceflights

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams aren’t the first to run late in space, and their 9 ½-month mission falls short of any endurance record. But never before has a quick trip morphed into such a long haul. They launched last June on a test flight of Boeing’s Starliner capsule for what was supposed to be a weeklong trip. By the time they splashed down with SpaceX on Tuesday, they had spent 286 days off the planet. That’s 36 times longer than anticipated. The longest U.S. spaceflight is by NASA astronaut Frank Rubio, who saw his mission double to 12 months. NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams aren’t the first to run late in space, and their 9 ½-month mission falls short of any endurance record. But never before has a quick trip morphed into such a long haul. They launched last June on a test flight of Boeing’s Starliner capsule for what was supposed to be a weeklong trip. By the time they splashed down with SpaceX on Tuesday, they had spent 286 days off the planet. That’s 36 times longer than anticipated. The longest U.S. spaceflight is by NASA astronaut Frank Rubio, who saw his mission double to 12 months.  AP Technology and Science