:format(webp)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/grupoclarin/6QRRE7GX2VCB7KVYFDNZHOCKJQ.jpg "Russian cosmonaut breaks world record for accumulated time in space")
A Russian cosmonaut has broken the world record for accumulated time in space, the Russian space agency, Roscosmos, reported on Sunday.
Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, 59, has spent more than 878 days and 12 hours in space, surpassing his Russian compatriot Gennady Padalka, who spent 878 days, 11 hours, 29 minutes and 48 seconds in 2015.
Kononenko has made five trips to the International Space Station, since 2008.
Speaking to Russian state news agency TASS, Kononenko said that each trip to the ISS requires a lot of preparation as the station is constantly being updated, but that being a cosmonaut is a childhood dream come true.
“I go to space to do what I love, not to break records. I have dreamed and aspired to be a cosmonaut since I was a child. That interest — the opportunity to go to space, to live and work in orbit — motivates me to continue flying,” he told TASS.
Kononenko’s current trip to the ISS began on September 15, 2023, when he lifted off alongside NASA’s Loral O’Hara and fellow Russian Nikolai Chub. By the time this mission ends, Kononenko will be the first person to have a cumulative 1,000 days in space.
The ISS is one of the few missions where the United States continues to cooperate with Russia, despite the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Roscosmos announced in December that its cooperation program with NASA to send astronauts to the station will continue until 2025. .