Two Russians Break Record for Longest Single Stay on the International Space Station

In Moscow, Russia’s space agency announced that two Russians have broken the record for the longest continuous stay on the International Space Station. Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub surpassed the previous record of 370 days, 21 hours, and 22 minutes set in September 2023 by Russians Sergei Prokopiev and Dmitry Petelin along with American Francisco Rubio.

Chub and Kononenko will be extending their record before they are scheduled to return to Earth on Monday. Kononenko, who is 59 years old, also holds other space duration records, including the most cumulative time in space with 1,110 days over five missions by the time he lands in Kazakhstan next week.

During their record-breaking stay, two American astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, found themselves aboard the space station unexpectedly. They were only expected to be on the ISS for eight days when they launched in June, but due to issues with their Boeing Starliner capsule, they will now be returning in February.