Record-Breaking Flight: Russian Astronaut Achieves Over 878 Days in Space

The Russian space agency announced that "Russian astronaut Oleg Kononenko set a world record today, Sunday, for the longest time spent in space, surpassing his compatriot Gennady Padalka, who logged over 878 days." The Russian space agency (Roscosmos) reported that "Kononenko broke the record at 08:30 GMT, and he is expected to reach a total of 1000 days in space by June 5 and 1110 days by the end of September." Kononenko stated in an interview from the International Space Station, located about 423 kilometers from Earth, that he travels to space to do his favorite thing, not to break records. He added, "I am proud of all my achievements, but I am prouder that the record for the total time spent by a human in space is still held by a Russian astronaut." Kononenko's current mission to the International Space Station began last year aboard the Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft. The International Space Station remains one of the few international projects still witnessing cooperation between the United States and Russia.