´óÏó´«Ã½

US astronaut Mark Vande Hei has set a new record for an American in space, logging a massive 355 days on board the International Space Station (ISS) - that's almost a whole year!

He touched down with Russian cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrov on Wednesday 30 March, after completing his second mission on board the ISS.

The trio departed the International Space Station at 3:21 AM US Eastern Time, and landed with the help of a parachute at 7:28 AM (5:28 PM Kazakhstan time) southeast of the remote town of Dzhezkazgan in Kazakhstan.

Bill Nelson, the administrator of American space agency Nasa, said in a statement that Mark Vande Hei's mission was "paving the way for future human explorers on the Moon, Mars, and beyond."

He continued: "Nasa and the nation are proud to welcome Mark home and grateful for his incredible contributions throughout his year-long stay on the International Space Station."

Nasa has said that Mark's trip will provide them with an opportunity to study the effects of long trips in space, ahead of their next big mission Artemis.

The Artemis program will take Nasa astronauts back to the Moon for the first time since 1969, and beyond that to Mars.

Mark's trip into orbit beats the 340-day record set by astronaut Scott Kelly in 2016, according to Nasa.

The all-time record for the longest single stay in space was set by Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov, who spent more than 14 months aboard the Mir space station, returning to Earth in 1995.