On February 4, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko set a new world record for the longest time spent in space, logging over 878 days, or nearly two-and-a-half years, The Guardian reported. As of 0830 GMT, Kononenko surpassed the previous record held by his fellow Russian, Gennady Padalka. Padalka had logged 878 days, 11 hours, 29 minutes, and 48 seconds across five space flights before his retirement in 2017.
Breaking records 263 miles from Earth
Kononenko, 59, broke the record while orbiting 263 miles (423km) from Earth during his fifth space flight. “I venture into space to pursue my passion, not to break records,” he stated in an interview with the state news agency Tass from the International Space Station (ISS).
“I take pride in all my accomplishments, but I am most proud that the record for the longest cumulative human stay in space is still held by a Russian cosmonaut,”
-said Kononenko, who is also the commander of Roscosmos.
Kononenko’s current space flight is scheduled to conclude in late September, by which time he will have logged 1,110 days in space. He began his space career as an engineer and started training as a cosmonaut at the age of 34 after joining the group selected for the ISS programme. His first space flight took place shortly thereafter, in April 2008, and lasted 200 days.
Challenges of life in space
Kononenko revealed that video calls and messaging allowed him to stay connected, but it was upon returning to Earth that he realized how much of life he had missed. “It is only upon returning home that the realization comes that for hundreds of days in my absence the children have been growing up without a father,” he said. “No one will return this time to me.”
He also mentioned that he exercised regularly to counter the physical effects of the “insidious” weightlessness. “I do not feel deprived or isolated,” he added.
Kononenko’s five space flights have spanned 16 years, during which time advances in technology have made preparing for each flight more challenging. “The profession of a cosmonaut is becoming more complicated. The systems and experiments are becoming more complicated. I repeat, the preparation has not become easier,” he said.
International cooperation in space
The ISS is one of the few international projects in which Washington and Moscow have continued to cooperate closely since Russia invaded Ukraine. Roscosmos announced in December that a cross-flight programme with NASA had been extended until 2025.
Concerns over Russia’s space programme
The reliability of Russia’s space programme, historically the pride of the country, has come into question in recent years. The Russian segment of the ISS experienced its third coolant leak in less than a year in October, hinting at what analysts have described as a beleaguered space sector that is struggling to recover after years of funding shortages, failures, and corruption scandals.
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