Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko has set a new world record for the longest time spent in space.
The 59-year-old recorded a cumulative total of more than 878 days and 12 hours outside Earth's atmosphere – the equivalent of almost two-and-a-half years – on Sunday morning.
Mr. Kononenko celebrated this achievement on board International Space Station (International Space Station), which he has traveled to five times since 2008.
“I fly into space to do what I love, not to set records. I have dreamed and aspired to become an astronaut since I was a child.
“This interest – the opportunity to fly into space, live and work in orbit – motivates me to continue flying,” he told Russia's TASS news agency.
Kononenko added: “I am proud of all my achievements, but I am even more proud that the record for the total duration of a human being in space is still held by a record holder.” Russian astronaut.”
The astronaut is expected to reach 1,000 total days in space on June 5.
By late September, he will have been in space for 1,110 days, the equivalent of just over three years.
His current journey to the International Space Station began on September 15 last year, when he launched with it NASA astronaut Loral O'Hara and Roscosmos citizen Nikolai Chub.
Astronauts Oleg Kononenko (right) and Nikolai Chub during a spacewalk outside the International Space Station in October last year. Pic: Roscosmos Space Corporation via AP
“No one will come back for me this time.”
Kononenko said video calls with relatives back home and regular exercise on the plane meant he did not feel “deprived or isolated”.
But he added: “Only when I returned home did I realize that the children had been growing up for hundreds of days without a father. No one would come back to me this time.”
Kononenko is the latest in a long line of astronauts, including Yuri Gagarin, who was the first man to travel in space in 1961.
His achievement surpasses the record set by his compatriot Gennady Padalka, who spent a total of 878 days, 11 hours, 29 minutes and 48 seconds in space in 2015.
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Russia's space program stagnated following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, but officials in President Vladimir Putin's administration have since been keen to revive the program and return it to its former glory.
The International Space Station is one of the few international projects on which the United States and Russia still cooperate closely despite tensions over War in Ukraine And ongoing penalties.
Oleg Kononenko tests a new spacesuit on Earth. Photo: AP
The Russian space agency Roscosmos said last December that the program for joint flights with NASA to the International Space Station had been extended until 2025.
The space station travels 263 miles (423 km) above Earth at five miles per second. It orbits the planet approximately once every 90 minutes.
