Russian Astronaut First to Exceed 1000 Days in Space

Oleg Kononenko, the commander of the Russian space agency "Roscosmos" astronaut team and special correspondent for the "TASS" agency at the International Space Station, has become the first person in human history to spend a total of 1000 days in space, according to a statement from "Roscosmos" on Wednesday. The announcement stated: "Today, at 00:00:20 Moscow time, the Roscosmos astronaut Oleg Kononenko, who is working at the International Space Station, became the first in the world to record a total of 1000 days of space flight." Kononenko is currently on his fifth space mission and will celebrate his sixtieth birthday in space. By the end of this year-long mission, his total time spent in space will amount to 1110 days.