Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko has spent more time in space than anyone else in the world, according to Russia’s space agency Roscosmos. He’s been in space for over 878 days and 12 hours, breaking the previous record set by another Russian, Gennady Padalka, in 2015. Kononenko has been to the International Space Station five times since 2008. He says going to the ISS requires a lot of preparation because the station is always being upgraded. But being a cosmonaut has been his dream since he was a kid, and he loves being in space and working there.
Kononenko started his current trip to the International Space Station (ISS) on September 15, 2023. He traveled with NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara and Russian cosmonaut Nikolai Chub. By the end of this mission, Kononenko is expected to be the first person to spend 1,000 days in space.
Despite tensions between the United States and Russia after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, they still closely cooperate in space exploration. Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, announced in December that its joint program with NASA to transport astronauts to the ISS will continue until 2025.