Moscow, Feb 4 (EFE).- Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko set a new record on Sunday for total time spent in space, surpassing his compatriot Guennadi Padalka, who had spent 878 days, 11 hours, 29 minutes and 48 seconds.

NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara (L) along with Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko (C) and Nikolai Chub (R) walk before the departure to the launchpad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, 15 September 2023. EFE-EPA FILE/MAXIM SHEMETOV/POOL

Kononenko, who has been on the International Space Station (ISS) since September, set the new record on Sunday at 11:30:08 Moscow time.

The 59-year-old, who is on his fifth trip to the ISS, would have clocked 1,110 days in space by the time he returns to Earth on Sep. 23.

Kononenko, who was a flight engineer on Expedition 70 and led Expedition 71, had spent 736 days in space when he traveled to the ISS in September 2023 aboard the Russian Soyuz MS-24 spaceflight.

The Russian first flew to the station in April 2008 as part of Expedition 16 and has since performed six spacewalks for a total of 39 hours and 54 minutes spacewalking time. EFE

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