Russian cosmonauts return to Earth after record stay at International Space Station

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Two Russian cosmonauts returned to Earth following a record stay on board the International Space Station (ISS), the country’s space agency said on Monday.

Roscosmos said on Telegram that the capsule of the Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft carrying Oleg Kononenko and Nikolay Chub landed near the city of Jezkazgan in central Kazakhstan at 2:59 p.m. Moscow time (1159GMT).

According to Roscosmos, Kononenko and Chub spent 374 consecutive days in the ISS, the longest time anyone has stayed on the station.

The capsule also carried NASA astronaut Tracy Dyson who spent 184 days in orbit.

With his return, Kononenko has also set a new record for the longest cumulative stay in space with a total of 1,111 days spread over five missions.

The record for the longest single stay in space belongs to Valery Polyakov, who stayed 438 days in orbit in 1994-1995 on board the Mir space station.