Russian astronaut becomes first to spend 1,000 cumulative days in space
Technology
He achieved this milestone on his fifth flight to space and during his third stint
(Web Desk) - Russian astronaut Oleg Kononenko has become the first person to spend a total of 1,000 days in space.
Kononenko achieved this milestone on Wednesday on his fifth flight to space and during his third stint as the commander of the International Space Station (ISS), as per Spaceflight Now.
Earlier in February this year, the Russian astronaut had broken the cumulative in-space record of 878 days set by his fellow countryman Gennady Padalka.
Kononenko’s most recent trip to the ISS began in September 2023, alongside NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara and compatriot Nikolai Chub.
The Russian Space Agency (Roscosmos) said through a press release that Kononenko has become the first in the world to achieve this feat.
“Today at 00:00:20 Moscow time, Roscosmos state corporation cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, who currently works at the International Space Station has booked a record of 1,000 days for the first time in the world in terms of total spaceflight duration,” the statement by Roscosmos read, according to Russian news agency TASS.
Kononenko is supposed to stay for a year at the ISS, and his return to the Earth is planned for September 2024. If all goes as per schedule, he will have spent a total of 1,110 days in orbit by then.
Kononenko said that his American colleagues on the ISS were among the first ones to congratulate him on setting the new record.
“There’s this awareness that you have achieved something new and important, that you’ve overcome a certain milestone, touched the unknown,” Kononenko told TASS. “It gives you confidence, and pride in the work you’ve done.”
The ISS is one of the few places left where Russia and the US are still cooperating even after the former’s war with Ukraine led to increased tensions between the two.
In December, Roscosmos had declared that its cross-flight program with NASA had been extended till 2025. The program is intended to transport astronauts to the ISS.
The ISS has been in low Earth orbit since 1998. Astronauts started to use the station in November 2000, when a module that provided a long-term life support and control system was added to the first two modules.
Since then, the International Space Station has hosted more than 250 astronauts from 20 countries, most of which have been from Russia and the US.
The International Space Station (ISS) is an international cooperative project involving NASA, ESA (Europe), CSA (Canada), JAXA (Japan), and Russia. Over the years, these space agencies assembled the largest space station in history and the most extensive construction ever put into space.
