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Astronauts who spend long periods in space push human endurance and science to new levels. Often returning to space multiple times, these individuals spend months, if not more, in microgravity. Their time aboard spaceships and space stations provides essential data for future missions, as well as insights into how the human body and mind adapt to life in space. But who are the brave men and women who have spent the most cumulative time in space?
Click on to discover the names of these record-breaking space travelers.
Following several years working as a geophysicist, Andrew J. Feustel was selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in July 2000.
He is the veteran of three space flights with NASA, having even commanded the International Space Station (ISS) on one of his missions.
Feustel spent a total of 226 days in space. He retired after 23 years at NASA.
NASA astronaut Frank Rubio holds the record for the longest US space flight, but he wasn't trying to earn that title.
In September 2022, Rubio was deployed to the ISS along with two Russian cosmonauts.
It was supposed to be a six-month mission, but damage to the spacecraft extended their stay in space. That 180-day mission turned into a 371-day stay.
Aleksandr Volkov is a retired Soviet cosmonaut. He has been on three space flights, totaling 391 days in space across several missions.
The Soviet Union broke up in 1991 during his second stay on board Mir. At the time, Volkov was orbiting Earth with Sergei K. Krikalev. Having gone into orbit as Soviet citizens, they returned to Earth as Russian citizens.
Peggy Whitson's first NASA space mission was in 2002, on an extended stay aboard the ISS. On her second mission, from 2007 to 2008, she became the first woman to command the ISS.
In 2009, she became the first woman to serve as NASA's Chief Astronaut, the most senior position in the NASA Astronaut Corps. In 2017, Whitson became the first woman to command the ISS twice.
Across all of her missions, Whitson has a total of 665 days in space, more than any other American or woman. She retired from NASA in 2018.
Fyodor Yurchikhin is a Russian cosmonaut who first went to space in 2002 on the 10-day Space Shuttle mission STS-112.
His second was a long-duration stay aboard the ISS as a flight engineer, which lasted for six months in 2006.
With over five missions, Yurchikhin has been in space for a total of 672 days, all aboard the ISS.
Valery Polyakov was a Russian cosmonaut who made his first flight into space aboard Soyuz TM-6 in 1988.
He is the record holder for the longest single stay in space, staying aboard the Mir space station for more than 14 months (437 days and 18 hours) during one trip, from 1994 to 1995.
Polyakov logged a total of 679 days in space on those two flights. He passed away in 2022.
Sergei Krikalev is a former cosmonaut and a veteran of six space flights. He retired in 2007.
Krikalev was stranded on board the Mir during the dissolution of the Soviet Union. As the country that had sent him into space no longer existed, his return was delayed. He stayed in space for 311 consecutive days, twice as long as planned.
Krikalev spent a total of 803 days in space, including long-duration stays on both the Mir space station and the ISS.
Yuri Malenchenko is a Russian cosmonaut who became the first person to marry in space, on August 10, 2003, when he married Ekaterina Dmitrieva. She was in Texas, while he was 240 miles (390 km) over New Zealand, on the ISS.
A former commander of the ISS, Malenchenko ranks third for career time in space due to his time on both Mir and the ISS.
Having embarked on six space flights, Malenchenko spent a total of 827 days in space.
Gennady Padalka is a Russian Air Force officer and retired cosmonaut who previously held the record for the most time spent in space.
Padalka has been on both the Mir and the ISS. He retired in 2017.
From 1998 to 2015, Padalka had a total of 879 cumulative days logged in space.
At number one is Oleg Kononenko, a Russian cosmonaut who has flown to the ISS five times.
As of September 2024, Kononenko has accumulated over 1,090 days in space over the course of five long-duration missions (including his ongoing one-year mission) on the ISS.
If the mission lasts 300 to 365 days, Kononenko will have spent a total of 1,036 to 1,101 days in space.
Sources: (NPR) (Space) (NASA) (BBC) (Reuters)
See also: What are the risks of spending too much time in space?
Astronauts who have been in space the longest
These are record-breaking astronauts
LIFESTYLE Space travel
Astronauts who spend long periods in space push human endurance and science to new levels. Often returning to space multiple times, these individuals spend months, if not more, in microgravity. Their time aboard spaceships and space stations provides essential data for future missions, as well as insights into how the human body and mind adapt to life in space. But who are the brave men and women who have spent the most cumulative time in space?
Click on to discover the names of these record-breaking space travelers.