Spent an Incredible 1000 Days in Space... Russian Cosmonaut Sets New Record

Kononenko, World's First to Accumulate 1000 Days in Space
Previous Record Was 878 Days 11 Hours 29 Minutes 48 Seconds

Since February, the cumulative spaceflight duration record has been continuously broken by a Russian astronaut, whose total time in space has now exceeded 1000 days.

On the 5th (local time), Russian state news agency TASS reported, citing an announcement from the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), that astronaut Oleg Kononenko (59), currently on a mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS), set a world first by surpassing 1000 days of cumulative time spent in space at 00:00:20 Moscow time on that day.

Russian astronaut Oleg Kononenko sets a record for a cumulative space stay of 1,000 days
[Photo by EPA Yonhap News]

In an interview with TASS, Kononenko said, "I have achieved something new and important," adding, "It feels like encountering the unknown, and this feeling gives me confidence and pride." He also revealed that his American colleagues aboard the ISS were the first to congratulate him on setting the new record. Roscosmos and NASA operate a cooperative cross-flight program to transport astronauts to the ISS. In the past, Kononenko has said that he goes to space not to set records but to do what he loves most.

The previous record holder for the longest cumulative time spent in space was Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka. From 1998 to 2015, he completed five space missions, spending a total of 878 days, 11 hours, 29 minutes, and 48 seconds in space. The record for the longest single continuous stay in space is held by Russian scientist Valeri Polyakov, who stayed aboard the Mir space station for 437 days from January 1994 to March 1995.

Kononenko, who began astronaut training 25 years ago at the age of 34, has visited the ISS five times since his first flight in April 2008. After surpassing Padalka’s previous longest record on February 4, he has been breaking his own record daily. Since September 15 of last year, Kononenko has been aboard the ISS with American Laurel O’Hara and Russian Nikolai Chub. The ISS orbits approximately 423 km from Earth.

Originally, he was scheduled to return to Earth aboard a Soyuz spacecraft, but his mission was extended by six months due to a coolant leak incident in the Russian laboratory module on the ISS in October last year. If he remains on the space station until the planned date of September 23, he will have spent a total of 1110 days in space.