Russian cosmonaut sets new record by spending over 3 years in space

Finally back on Earth, his record is unlikely to be beaten by NASA anytime soon

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In a nutshell: Oleg Kononenko has spent more time off-planet than any other human in history. The Russian cosmonaut just wrapped up a remarkable run of 1,111 non-consecutive days in space after touching down on the steppe of Kazakhstan earlier this week. That's over three straight years, most of which was spent aboard the International Space Station.

Kononenko was joined by another cosmonaut, Nikolai Chub, along with NASA's Tracy Caldwell Dyson in the landing. His tenure obliterates the previous record held by his fellow Russian Gennady Padalka, who hit 878 cumulative days back in 2015. The 60-year-old space veteran accomplished this feat across five separate missions stretching back to 2008.

During his latest extended stay, Kononenko circled our blue marble a whopping 17,800 times while working with crewmates from multiple nations. He even squeezed in seven different spacewalks totaling 44 hours.

"Thanks to all my crewmates for your friendship. It has been a great time and pleasure to work and spend time together here as a big family on board the International Space Station," Kononenko said as he was leaving the station. "Right now I am leaving my second home."

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Kononenko wasn't joking about the second home part. The accounts for about 1.5% of the total time spent in space by over 600 people throughout human spaceflight history, according to Live Science. One big record he hasn't touched, though, is the longest continuous stay in space. That's held by Valeri Polyakov, who spent 437 days in the Soviet Union's Mir station between 1994 and 1995.

Of course, records are made to be broken, but Kononenko's marathon may actually stand the test of time. The handful of elite spacefarers that could challenge him have either retired or died. NASA also seems unlikely to beat the record anytime soon since its astronauts rarely linger longer than six months at a time. Reducing the chances further is the fact that the ISS is scheduled for a deorbit and re-entry in 2030.

Stranded NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore could potentially take a stab at the record, but they'd need to extend their already stretched tour further by another couple of years. Perhaps they could try beating the record set by Polyakov for the most consecutive days spent in space instead. With NASA admitting the duo will remain aboard the ISS until at least February 2025, they could easily push 240 days.