On Friday, two Russian cosmonauts, Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub, set a new record for the longest continuous stay aboard the International Space Station (ISS), as confirmed by Roscosmos, Russia’s space agency. They surpassed the previous record of 370 days, 21 hours, and 22 minutes, which was set in September 2023 by cosmonauts Sergei Prokopiev and Dmitry Petelin, along with NASA astronaut Francisco Rubio.
Kononenko and Chub are expected to remain on the ISS for a few more days before returning to Earth on Monday, further extending their time in space. By the time of his return, the 59-year-old Kononenko will have accumulated a staggering 1,110 days in space over the course of five missions, holding additional space duration records.
Interestingly, two American astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, have also been on the ISS for much of the Russians’ record-breaking mission. Originally scheduled for a short eight-day stay after their June launch, they were stranded due to issues with their Boeing Starliner capsule, which returned to Earth without them. Their return is now set for February.
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