Russian cosmonaut sets record for spending the most time in space

June 28^th marked a memorable day for cosmonaut Gennady Padalka, commander of Expedition 44 on the International Space Station (ISS). That Sunday marked his 803^rd cumulative day in space — a milestone that broke fellow cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev’s old record for time spent outside of Earth back in 2005. 

Cosmonaut Gennady Padalka. Image via dailymail.co.uk.

Gathered over the course of four different missions, Padalka’s time in zero gravity accounts for over two years of his life. That’s equivalent to more than 12,000 laps around Earth at the speeds of the ISS and Russia’s space station, Mir.

Currently the record-breaking cosmonaut has been aboard the ISS since March 27^th for his latest mission. He will be padding his record since he’s not due back to the planet until September. By then Padalka, 57, will have logged 878 days in orbit, and he doesn’t plan to stop there. He told interviewers before launching in March that he’s looking to pass 1,000 days in space on his next mission. 

Padalka aboard the ISS in June 2015 with astronaut Terry Virts. Image via dailymail.co.uk.

Selected as a cosmonaut in 1989, Padalka originally flew in space aboard the Mir space station in 1998 and 1999, spending 198 days there as a commander. Before his current mission, Padalka lived on the ISS during three stints in 2004, 2009, and 2012, leading the Expedition 9, Expedition 19, and Expedition 32 crews.

The only person who could realistically break Padalka's record is Russian Alexandr Kaleri, who spent 769 days in space and is still listed as an active astronaut. However, these records fall short of that for the longest continuous spaceflight, which was 437 days, set my cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov aboard Mir from January 8, 1994 to March 22,1995.

Source: CNET