A 59-year-old Russian astronaut has become the first person to spend 1,000 days in space, the Russian space agency Roscosmos reported Wednesday.
Oleg Kononenko broke the record after making five trips to the International Space Station since 2008.
His last journey began on September 15, 2023, when he took off alongside NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara and his compatriot Nikolai Chub.
Kononenko first broke the record in February 2024, when he surpassed a total of 878 days, 11 hours, 29 minutes and 48 seconds set by Russian astronaut Gennady Padalka in 2015.
If Kononenko’s mission ends as planned on September 23, 2024, he will have spent a total of 1,110 days in orbit.
“One is aware that something new and important has been achieved, that a certain milestone has been surpassed, that the unknown has been reached. This generates confidence and pride in the work done,” Kononenko told the Russian state news agency TASS.
He also commented that his American colleagues on the space station were the first to congratulate him on his achievement.
The International Space Station is one of the few areas where the United States and Russia continue to cooperate closely following the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
“The International Space Station team continues to safely conduct research operations in low Earth orbit,” a spokesperson stated in 2022.
He also noted that these operations include the transfer of crew members to the orbital outpost, as well as “returning them safely to Earth.”
Roscosmos announced in December that its cross-flight program with NASA to transport astronauts to the International Space Station was extended until 2025.
