Russian Cosmonaut Sets Record For Most Time In Space
Kononenko said that he worked out regularly to counter the physical effects of “insidious” weightlessness, but that it was on returning to earth that the realisation came of how much life he had missed out on. “I do not feel deprived or isolated,” he said.
“It is only upon returning home that the realisation comes that for hundreds of days in my absence the children have been growing up without a papa. No one will return this time to me.” He said cosmonauts could now use video calls and messaging to keep in touch with relatives but getting ready for each new space flight became more difficult due to technological advances.
“The profession of a cosmonaut is becoming more complicated. The systems and experiments are becoming more complicated. I repeat, the preparation has not become easier,” he said. Kononenko dreamed of going to space as a child and enrolled in an engineering institute, before undergoing cosmonaut training. His first space flight was in 2008. His current trip to the ISS launched last year on a Soyuz MS-24.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.