878 days and 12 hours: that’s how long Oleg Kononenko spent in space. THE cosmonaut The Russian set a new record, surpassing the previous one by half an hour, which was held by his compatriot Genadij Padalka since 2015.
When asked by the Russian agency TASS for his impressions, the 59-year-old engineer replied: “I fly into space to do what I love, not to set records. I dream and aspire to become cosmonautcosmonaut since my childhood. This passion — the possibility of flying in space, living and working in it orbit — makes me keep flying ».
Where borders no longer exist
On the boat International Space Station from September 15, at the end of this journey, he should be the first cosmonaut in history to spend 1000 days in space, that is, almost two and a half years!
As he recalls The Associated Press, ” there International Space StationInternational Space Station is one of the few areas where the United States and Russia still cooperate closely since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Roscosmos (the company responsible for the Russian space program Editor’s noteEditor’s note) announced in December that its cross-flight program with OUR for transportationastronautsastronauts ISS has been extended until 2025.