Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko has made history by breaking the record for the longest time spent in space by any astronaut, surpassing his compatriot Gennady Padalka’s previous record of 878 days, 11 hours, and 30 minutes.
Kononenko achieved this milestone during his current mission aboard the International Space Station, which began last September and is scheduled to last for a year, allowing him to further solidify his record.
The Russian Federal Space Agency Roscosmos expects Kononenko to reach a total of 1,000 days in space on June 5, 2024. Upon completing his journey and spending a full year in space on September 23, 2024, his total time in space will be 1,110 days.
Since the start of space missions in the mid-20th century, Russian cosmonauts have dominated the records for the longest durations spent in space, holding the top eight positions for the longest time astronauts have been away from Earth.
NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson holds the ninth position after spending 675 days in space intermittently.
Russian cosmonaut Valery Polyakov holds the record for the longest continuous spaceflight, spending 438 consecutive days aboard the Russian space station Mir between 1994 and 1995.
Kononenko’s current mission is his fifth spaceflight, serving as a flight engineer for “Expedition 70” on the International Space Station. He is set to take command later this month when the current station commander, Andrey Moongin, returns to Earth with the rest of the SpaceX 7 crew.
