Today is a historic day for space exploration. As midnight passes in Moscow on June 5, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko will have reached an impressive 1,000 days in space. This milestone comes after surpassing the previous record of 878 days, 11 hours, 29 minutes and 48 seconds, held by his compatriot Guennadi Padalka. Kononenko, 59, is currently on his fifth mission to the International Space Station (ISS), where he set the new record, and will continue to expand it for more than three months. When he returns to Earth, next September 23, he will leave her in 1,110 days.
The Russian cosmonaut first flew to the station in April 2008 as part of the sixteenth expedition and since then he has carried out seven spacewalks, which have taken him 44 and a half hours outside the ship. Kononenko has not only made history with his stay in space, he also has a vision for the future of space exploration, now that the main world powers are considering installing permanent bases on the Moon or traveling to Mars. Speaking to the TASS agency when he beat Padalka, Kononenko expressed his desire for a station to be built that would be “a real space house”, larger and more comfortable, and less dependent on the Earth. To achieve this goal, Kononenko, who knows what he is talking about better than anyone, recommended perfecting the water regeneration, oxygen supply and space debris recycling systems. These improvements could make life in space more sustainable and comfortable for future astronauts. Throughout his career, he has demonstrated exceptional dedication and commitment to space exploration.
Although NASA is very good at publicizing its achievements and in many cases leads space exploration, when it comes to staying in space, Russian cosmonauts beat them. In September 2023, Frank Rubio returned to Earth after 371 days in space after his orbital stay was prolonged due to a breakdown of the capsule that was to bring him back. He is the American with the longest orbital trip, but is still far behind the Russian Valeri Poliakov, who stayed at the MIR station for 437 days between 1994 and 1995 and is the person who holds the record for the longest stay. He stayed long enough to complete a round trip to Mars, and he said that in all that time away from his family or friends he had lows at the beginning and end of the mission.
Stays as long as those of these Russian cosmonauts are important to control the psychological aspects of long-term trips. Poliakov, who died in 2022, was a doctor and studied the effects of space on human physiology. Other consequences of moving away from the Earth’s surface for too long is the loss of muscle mass, more than 1% of bone mineral for each month in space. Upon returning to Earth, intense recovery work is necessary, which may require years to be complete. In addition to an increased risk of fractures, an increased risk of cancer due to exposure to cosmic radiation and even erectile dysfunction problems have been detected. This information, accumulated thanks to trips like Kononenko’s, will be used to design strategies that alleviate the problems that humans will suffer when setting up permanent bases on the Moon or venturing to Mars for the first time.
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