Tuesday, May 19, 2026

Heroes Among Us: Francisco Carlos “Frank” Rubio – US Army Lieutenant Colonel, Medical Officer and Astronaut

Los Angeles is known for a large number of talented people. It is a home to actors, singers, politicians, TV presenters, engineers, athletes and many other prominent personalities. All of them glorify their hometown with their work and creativity. Today, we will talk about the life and activities of American medical officer and Lieutenant Colonel Francisco Carlos “Frank” Rubio, who also mastered the profession of an astronaut. Read more about our compatriot on the pages of layes.info

Education and Military Service 

Francisco Carlos was born in Los Angeles in 1975. He grew up in a family of a doctor. After graduating from high school, the young man entered the Military Academy. He also studied at the United States Army Command and General Staff College.

Carlos Rubio joined the United States Army. He served as a lieutenant, company commander and then became a helicopter pilot. By the way, while Francisco was a pilot, he clocked up over 1,100 hours, with 600 hours in combat.

Our fellow countryman continued his education. In 2010, he graduated from the US Uniformed Services University of the Health Science with an MD degree. In 2017, Rubio served as a battalion surgeon.

Changed his occupation and conquered space

Our compatriot decided to go beyond military service and become more than a military medic. In 2017, Francisco tried his hand in a different field and started basic space training at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center. Within three years, he was awarded the qualification of an astronaut.

In September 2022, Frank finally launched on board Soyuz MS-22 from Baikonur to the International Space Station. He served as an onboard engineer of the crew. The flight lasted three hours.

Just a few months later, in 2022, Rubio made a spacewalk. Together with Josh Cassada, they upgraded the power supply system. The mission lasted seven hours. In December 2022, Rubio and Cassada went on another seven-hour extravehicular excursion.

It should be noted that the International Space Station is a pilot station in Earth orbit. It was created in space for scientific research. Its development began in 1998 with the assistance of the United States, Japan, Canada, Brazil, the European Union and Russia. It weighs over 450 tons and completes more than 15 orbits per day. It is worth mentioning that the station’s operation was planned to continue until 2010, but it was decided to prolong its function until the end of 2024.

In addition, astronauts sometimes go into outer space to perform various tasks. As of 2019, a great number of space missions had been completed, lasting over 58 days in total.

Francisco Carlos “Frank” Rubio is a talented compatriot who has mastered several professions during his life. He excelled in the US Army, worked as a military medic and opted to conquer space. As the phrase goes, “A talented person is talented everywhere.” By the way, Frank is not only a skilled soldier, doctor and astronaut but also a wonderful father. He and his wife are raising four children.

This is the success story of Francisco Rubio. We hope our article was informative for you and you learned more about our compatriots.

What do you know about the activities of Francisco Carlos Rubio? We are interested in your feedback on social media as we value your opinion.

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