Russian cosmonaut logs record 1,000th day in space

June 5 (UPI) -- Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko on Wednesday literally set an out-of-this-world record when he became the first human to spend a total of 1,000 days in space.

"Today, at 00:00:20 Moscow time, Roscosmos state corporation cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, who currently works at the International Space Station, has booked a record of 1,000 days for the first time in the world in terms of total spaceflight duration," Roscosmos officials said in a prepared statement.

Kononenko tallied his time in space across five missions, including three as the commander of the International Space Station.

"It takes a special kind of person to achieve such a record," former NASA medical officer Emmanuel Urquieta told Spaceflight Now. "It's a long time, but I think that it is one of those data points that I hope we will start getting more of in the future."

Kononenko's current mission started with the Sept. 15 launch of a Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft while accompanied by cosmonaut Nikolai Chub and NASA astronaut Loral O'Hara.

Kononenko in February surpassed the prior record of cumulative time in space when he completed 878 days on Feb. 4.

Cosmonaut Gennady Padalka previously held the cumulative record for the number of days spent in space.

Kononenko is scheduled to return to Earth with Chub and NASA astronaut Tracy Dyson in September.