Russian Astronaut Sets World Record for Time Spent in Space: Two and Half Years

Two and a half years in space – this is the new record a Russian astronaut broke. Besides, at the end of the current mission in space, the astronaut will have spent 1110 days in space, setting up the highest record of all time for many years to come.

Oleg Kononenco, 59, will exceed the achievement of his compatriot Gennady Padalka, who accumulated 878 days, 11 hours, 29 minutes and 48 seconds over five space flights before retiring in 2017, the Russian news agency TASS reported.

Kononenko, the commander of the Russian space state agency Roscosmos cosmonaut corps, is conducting his fifth space flight. Upon completing the current expedition, scheduled for Sept. 23, Kononenko will have logged 1,110 days in space.

At 34, according to the European Space Agency’s website, Kononenko began training as part of the group of cosmonauts selected for the International Space Station (ISS) programme. The ISS is one of the few international projects on which the United States and Russia cooperated after the so-called special operation in Ukraine began.