Round-the-world record

A former astronaut is back at Nasa’s Kennedy Space Center after helping to shatter a pair of records for a round-the-world aeroplane flight over the North and South poles. Terry Virts was part of the team whose 46h 39m 38s polar circumnavigation flight ended yesterday. They set the duration and speed records in a Qatar Executive Gulfstream G650ER aircraft. Their average speed was 861km/h. Virts’ former space station crewmate, Russian Gennady Padalka, was on the first two legs of the flight.