Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka,the commander of the current crew on board the International Space Station has broken the record for the longest time spent in space with a total of 803 days as on July 2015.
“The record is official. Gennady Padalka has become the man who spent the most time in space,” informed a spokesman for the Russian federal space agency Roscosmos.
The 57-year-old former Russian Air Force officer beat the old record of 803 days, nine hours and 41 minutes set by fellow cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev (now retired) across six missions from 1998 to 2005.
Padalka is the current commander of the International Space Station which has been orbiting the Earth. When Padalka returns to Earth in September with fellow ISS crew members Mikhail Kornienko and Scott Kelly, he will have spent a total of 877 days, or roughly 2.5 years, in space.
He has participated in nine space walks till date and aims to set a record of 1000 days in space.
