1000 days in orbit: Russian cosmonaut Kononenko sets a world record
June 6, 2024
Categories: ISS, Russia

Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko has become the world’s first person to spend a total of 1,000 days in Earth orbit. The record was set tonight. Kononenko is now onboard the ISS, and when he returns to Earth in September, the total duration of his space flights will be 1,110 days.

The record was set on 5 June at 00:00:20 Moscow time, the press service of Roscosmos said. For the commander of the cosmonaut squad Oleg Kononenko the current space flight is the fifth in his career. He left for the International Space Station on 15 September 2023 and is expected to return to Earth on 23 September.

This is not Kononenko’s first achievement this year: On 4 February, he became the world’s first in terms of total duration of space flights, breaking the record of another colleague, Gennady Padalka, who stayed in space for a total of 878 days, 11 hours 29 minutes and 48 seconds.

As Kononenko noted in a comment to the TASS agency, the new record of staying in outer space for 1000 days will be important for the development of space medicine and preparation for future interplanetary missions. For example, specialists will be able to track how such a long stay in weightlessness affects the human body and develop certain recommendations based on the knowledge gained.

The Russian cosmonaut also shared that the achievement makes him proud of the work he has done and also motivates him to continue doing what he loves. “On the one hand, for me 1000 is a number showing the total number of days of my work in space. On the other hand, there is the realisation that you have achieved something important, new, overcome a certain milestone, touched the unknown,’ Kononenko said.

The commander of the Roscosmos cosmonaut squadron also said that his American colleagues were the first to congratulate him on setting the record. “The crew of the American segment of the station and the MCC in Houston were the first to congratulate me.

Foreign colleagues closely followed when the fact of a thousand days will be accomplished, because they consider this event a significant milestone for the entire world cosmonautics,’ the cosmonaut said.

Now the crew of the 71st long-term expedition – cosmonauts of Roscosmos Oleg Kononenko, Nikolai Chub and Alexander Grebenkin, NASA astronauts Matthew Dominik, Michael Barratt, Janette Epps and Tracy Dyson are currently working on the ISS. Last week, the Russian cargo ship Progress MS-27 arrived at the station, delivering more than 2.5 tonnes of various cargoes, including gifts for the upcoming birthdays of two cosmonauts – Oleg Kononenko and Alexander Grebenkin.

More from this category:
April 8, 2013

By the end of this decade Russia will be the only country able to send the crews to the ISS, Roscosmos manned space programs Head…

full story
May 19, 2014

On May 17 ISS-40/41 main and back-up crews took part in traditional events at Baikonur spaceport. The day started with traditional flag-raising ceremony symbolizing formal…

full story
June 29, 2024

The second of nine Earth observation satellites (EOS) “Stilsat” is to be launched in 2025. Anton Burmak, executive director of Stilsat, named the dates. He…

full story
November 20, 2014

Russia and the United States have no plans to end joint scientific experiments on board the International Space Station (ISS), Vice President of the Russian Academy of Sciences Lev…

full story
June 19, 2020

The launch of Angara-A5 heavy booster preliminary planned for November 03 according to the source. Thus the first from 2014 and the second in history…

full story
February 14, 2014

The landing of Soyuz TMA-10M manned spacecraft with Oleg Kotov, Sergey Ryazansky (Roscosmos) and Michael Hopkins (NASA) onboard was shifted from March 12 to March…

full story
February 15, 2021

At the Baikonur Cosmodrome, the Soyuz-2.1a launch vehicle and the Progress MS-16 cargo spacecraft undergo final prelaunch operations. In accordance with the decision of the…

full story
Rocket with the spacecraft "K.E. Tsiolkovsky" was transported to the launch complex of Baikonur
September 20, 2022

On Sunday, September 18, 2022, the Soyuz-2.1a launch vehicle with the Soyuz MS-22 manned spacecraft (K.E. Tsiolkovsky) was transported to the launch complex of the…

full story