Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko made history on Sunday by setting a new world record for the most time spent in space, surpassing his fellow countryman Gennady Padalka, who logged over 878 days in orbit, according to Russia's space corporation.
Roscosmos announced that at 0830 GMT, Kononenko broke the record. He is expected to reach a total of 1,000 days in space by June 5 and will have amassed 1,110 days by late September.
"I fly into space to do my favorite thing, not to set records," Kononenko told TASS in an interview from the International Space Station (ISS), where he orbits about 263 miles (423 km) from Earth. "I am proud of all my achievements, but I am more proud that the record for the total duration of human stay in space is still held by a Russian cosmonaut."
The 59-year-old took the top spot from Padalka, who accumulated a total of 878 days, 11 hours, 29 minutes, and 48 seconds, according to Roscosmos.
The Soviet Union startled the West in the early years of the space race by being the first to launch a satellite into orbit around Earth - Sputnik 1, in 1957 - and then sending Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin as the first human in space in 1961. However, after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russia's space program faced significant funding shortages and corruption.
Under President Vladimir Putin's administration, officials have vowed to revive Russia's space programs, but serious challenges persist, according to officials and space analysts.
Kononenko mentioned that he regularly exercises to counteract the physical effects of weightlessness, but the realization of the life he has missed out on hits him upon returning to Earth.
"It is only upon returning home that the realization comes that for hundreds of days in my absence, the children have been growing up without a papa. No one will return this time to me," he said.
Cosmonauts can now use video calls and messaging to stay in touch with relatives, but the technological advancements have made preparing for each new space flight 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," Kononenko said.
Kononenko dreamed of going to space as a child, enrolled in an engineering institute, and underwent cosmonaut training. His first space flight was in 2008, and his current trip to the ISS launched last year on a Soyuz MS-24.
The ISS remains one of the few international projects on which the United States and Russia still closely cooperate. In December, Roscosmos announced the extension of a cross-flight program with NASA to the ISS until 2025.
Relations between the two countries have deteriorated in other areas since Russia's invasion of Ukraine nearly two years ago, with Washington responding by sending arms to Kyiv and imposing successive rounds of sanctions on Moscow.
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