Russian Cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko Sets World Record After Spending 878 Days at ISS

(Photo: Wikimedia Commons/NASA)
Russian Cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko Sets World Record After Spending 878 Days at ISS

A Russian cosmonaut has set a world record for his time in space. The astronaut spent over two years outside the Earth.

Oleg Kononenko - The Cosmonaut Who Spent Most Time in Space

Oleg Kononenko surpassed the record held by his countryman Gennady Padalka, according to Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, after clocking in more than 878 days, or almost 2.5 years, at 8:30GMT. Before retiring in 2017, Padalka had accrued 878 days, 11 hours, 29 minutes, and 48 seconds during five space missions.

On his fifth space mission, Kononenko, 59, broke the record while circling 263 miles (423 km) from Earth. In an interview with the International Space Station (ISS), he told the state news agency Tass that he flies into space because he loves it and not to set records.

"I am proud of all my achievements, but I am most proud that a Russian cosmonaut still holds the record for the total duration of human stay in space," Kononenkos, the commander of Roscosmos, said.

By the time his current space mission ends in late September, he will have spent 1,110 days in orbit. According to the European Space Agency, he began his space career as an engineer and, at 34, joined the group chosen for the International Space Station (ISS) program, starting his training as a cosmonaut. Soon after, in April 2008, he embarked on his first space mission, which lasted 200 days.

Kononenko told Tass that while messaging and video conversations kept him in contact, returning to Earth made him realize how much of life he had missed. He added that he regularly worked out to combat the physical impacts of "insidious" weightlessness.

"I do not feel deprived or isolated," he added. Throughout his five space missions, which lasted 16 years, he claimed that technological advancements had made the pre-flight preparations more challenging.

"The profession of a cosmonaut is becoming more complicated. The systems and experiments are becoming more complicated. I repeat, the preparation has not become easier," he added.

ALSO READ: 2 Cosmonauts Encounter Toxic Coolant 'Blob' During Spacewalk Outside International Space Station

Cosmonaut Vs. Astronaut

The Russian Space Agency certifies and trains individuals to work as cosmonauts. Those qualified to work in space by NASA, ESA, CSA, or JAXA are known as astronauts.

Despite their apparent functional similarity, the two words differ slightly due to the various space agencies' conflicting operating philosophies. These different mindsets lead to marginally distinct knowledge bases and skill sets.

In the end, however, the two terms have a respect-based distinction. Human spaceflight has a lengthy history with the Russians. They launched the first person into space and currently hold the record for the longest duration of any one person in space, along with their entire mission and career. They also own the record for the most spacewalks performed by an individual.

Every person who acquires the title of "cosmonaut assumes the mantle that Yuri Gagarin previously held. Demands that they give up that title to comply would be harsh and impolite. Remember that merely entering space does not provide one of these titles. Neither astronauts nor cosmonauts are the spaceflight participants who pay the Russians for a trip into space.