Starkingly yet unsurprisingly, NASA did it again.
Setting another world record, Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka has returned to Earth and landed a brand new feat for the International Space Station becoming the most experienced space flier and breaking the world record for longest time spent in space. BBC reports that Padalka has surpassed the previous record set by Russian Sergei Krikalev, who completed six missions in two months.
The 50-year-old Padalka's mission lasted 168 days, bringing his total to 879 days in space over five trips - two months longer than Krikalev's, according to BBC.
BBC cites some quick and dirty background info on Padalka:
- Graduated as a pilot and became a colonel in the Russian Air Force
- First journey to space was in 1998, to Russia's Mir space station
- Only person to have commanded the ISS four times
- He beat the previous record for most time in space on 28 June 2015
- Has participated in 10 spacewalks
Padalka descended with two other astronauts namely: Andreas Mogensen of the European Space Agency, nicknamed Denmark's Gagarin after Yuri Gagarin the first man in space and Aidyn Aimbetov, the third Kazakh cosmonaut. Both astronauts were reported to have spent less than 10 days in orbit, according to Telegraph UK. Padalka and team landed before sunrise in Kazakhstan via their Soyuz spacecraft. The former station commander returned on Saturday from his fifth spaceflight landing in central Kazakhstan.
The historical landing's documentation has been documented by BBC. View it here.
BBC notes that a ground crew assisted and extracted the three astronauts from while medics checked their condition.
Mogensen remarks, as told by Telegraph UK, that the crew had had "a fantastic mission" at the ISS.
"This is a superb example of what can be achieved together when we work together across borders and boundaries," he says, as per Telegraph UK.
The three were taken via helicopter to the Astana. Telegraph UK also reports that Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev welcomed them with a red-carpet reception.
"You've spent so much time in space, but you look great," President Nazarbayev told Padalka, as per Telegraph UK.
He furthered: "There are 200 states in the world, but not all of them get the luck of sending their citizens into space. We are one of those rare cases -- and we have launched three cosmonauts already, not one."
"I congratulate you on your cosmonaut and all of us on the successful completion of our work," Padalka replied, as quoted by Telegraph UK.
Presently, there are six astronauts remaining in the ISS, as reported by BBC. NASA's Scott Kelly and Russia's Mikhail Kornienko are among the six known for embarking on a 12-month tour of duty in March which is the longest continuous stay at the orbiting platform.