Russian Oleg Kononenko is the first person to spend 1000 days in space

On Tuesday, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko became first person to spend 1000 days in space, a record he broke aboard the International Space Station (ISS). 59-year-old Kononenko set a new mark at 21:00:20 GMT after five missions to the orbital platform.

Long stay of a Russian on the ISS will allow scientists to learn more about its physiological effects on the bodysuch as muscle degeneration, bone loss, blurred vision and loss of balance (dizziness).

Kononenko, who turns 60 in two weeksis a record holder, as on February 4, he already became the cosmonaut with the longest stay in outer space – 878 days, 11 hours, 29 minutes and 48 seconds – a mark previously held by the legendary Gennady Padalka.

Russian who arrived on the spacecraft in September 2023 aboard Soyuz MS-24 will add 1,110 days – almost three years – when it returns to Earth on September 23. In total, Kononenko, who was born in the former Soviet republic of Turkmenistan, made five flights to the ISS (2008, 2011, 2015, 2018 and 2023).

Kononenko’s estimate is virtually unbeatable today, since the next ten cosmonauts on the list are already retired or deceased. The vast majority are Russian or born in the former Soviet Union, with the exception of American Peggy Whitson, who ranks ninth with 675 days, a significant achievement considering NASA has always limited women’s stays in EEI due to increased cancer risk.

The next active cosmonaut is also Russian Sergei Prokopyev, total 567 days. However, it will be difficult for him to enhance his personal brand as the Russian space agency Roscosmos has announced its intention to abandon the ISS in the coming years to focus on building a new Russian space station.

As for the record for continuous stay in space, it belongs to another Russian, Valery Polyakov, who spent 437 days continuously on the Russian Mir station between 1994 and 1995.