On February 4, Russian astronaut Oleg Kononenko set a world record for the total time spent in space, surpassing the previous mark of over 878 days held by fellow countryman Gennady Padalka.
Russian astronaut Oleg Kononenko, a member of Expedition 5859 of the International Space Station (ISS), signals while boarding the Soyuz MS-11 spacecraft. (Photo: Getty Images/Interesting Engineering).
According to the Russian Federal Space Agency Roscosmos, Kononenko broke the record at 8:30 AM GMT (3:30 PM Vietnam time), exceeding the time of 878 days, 11 hours, 29 minutes, and 48 seconds previously set by astronaut Padalka.
The 59-year-old astronaut is expected to reach a total of 1,000 days in space on June 5 and hit the milestone of 1,110 days by the end of September 2024.
In an interview with TASS from the International Space Station (ISS), located 423 kilometers above Earth, astronaut Kononenko stated: “I go to space to do the work I love, not to set records. I am proud of my achievement, but even prouder that the record for the longest time spent in space still belongs to a Russian astronaut.”
Kononenko has dreamed of going to space since he was a child.
Before being trained as an astronaut, he studied at a technical school. His first space flight took place in 2008, and last year he completed a mission to the ISS aboard the Soyuz MS-24.
The ISS is one of the few international projects that continues to demonstrate close cooperation between the United States and Russia. Last December, Roscosmos announced that its collaboration program with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has been extended until 2025.
