Russian astronaut breaks record for longest time spent in space
A Russian astronaut has become the world’s most experienced space flier by breaking the record of longest period of time spent in space.
Gennady Padalka returned to Earth from his latest stay at the International Space Station (ISS) on Friday.
The 57-year-old Russian cosmonaut touched down in a Soyuz spacecraft near the remote town of Dzhezkazgan in Kazakhstan along with two other ISS crewmembers -- the European Space Agency’s Andreas Mogensen and Aidyn Aimbetov of the Kazakh Space Agency.
The landing marked the completion of Padalka’s fifth mission with of total of 879 days of orbit time throughout his career. Another Russian, Sergei Krikalev, held the previous record of 803 during six trips.
Padalka, former ISS captain, arrived at the ISS on March 27 last time with Russian Federal Space Agency Roscosmos’ Mikhail Kornienko and NASA’s Scott Kelly who is the current captain at the station. The record breaker's journey took 168 days, during which he traveled some 71 million miles.
After landing, the trio received a red carpet welcome by Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev.
"You've spent so much time in space, but you look great," Nazarbayev told Padalka.
Astronauts face severe health risks after prolonged stays in reduced gravity environments. The lack of sufficient gravity can result in bone loss and increase loss of bone minerals. It also may shrink muscle fibers rendering them weaker.
During a stay of around five months in space, cosmonauts can lose up to 40 percent of muscle and 12 percent of bone mass, which is the physical equivalent of 20-year-old aging into a 60-year-old in under six months.
After returning to earth it takes about a year for bones to recover under a specially designed rehabilitation program.
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