After Record-Breaking International Space Station Stay, Russian Cosmonauts Land on Earth

After a record-breaking stay aboard the International Space Station (ISS), two Russian cosmonauts landed back on Earth on Monday.

These two Russian cosmonauts, Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub spent 374 days at the ISS, the longest time anybody has ever stayed on the station in a continuous stint.

During his recent stay at the ISS, Kononenko, 60, also set a new record for the longest cumulative time any person has spent in space with a total of 1,111 days across five trips.

American astronaut Tracy Dyson, who went to the space station in March 2024, also returned to Earth along with the two Russian cosmonauts.

The Soyuz MS-25 capsule with the three landed in the vast steppe of Kazakhstan at 16:59 local time.

The absolute record for the longest unbroken time any human has spent in space belongs to Russia’s Valeri Polyakov, who spent 438 days on the Mir space station in 1994-95.

The ISS is of the size of a football field and orbits some 250 miles above the Earth.