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Hero of Turkmenistan and Russia, cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, who set a world record for total time spent in orbit, is completing his fifth space expedition and is preparing to return to Earth on September 23, the press service of the Russian diplomatic mission in Turkmenistan reports with reference to TASS.
The event marks the end of a mission that lasted 375 days, making it the longest in the International Space Station (ISS) program.
Kononenko, a native of Turkmenabat and the most experienced of Russia's active cosmonauts, reached an unprecedented milestone on February 4 this year, becoming the first person in history to spend a total of 1000 days in low Earth orbit.
This record was set during his current mission, which began on September 15, 2023, when he launched to the ISS as the commander of Expedition ISS-70/71 on the “Soyuz MS-24” spacecraft.