Oleg Dmitriyevich Kononenko (; ; born 21 June 1964) is a Russian

cosmonaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a List of human spaceflight programs, human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member of a spa ...

. He has flown to the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is a large space station that was Assembly of the International Space Station, assembled and is maintained in low Earth orbit by a collaboration of five space agencies and their contractors: NASA (United ...

five times as a flight engineer for

Expedition 17 Expedition 17 was the 17th expedition to the International Space Station (ISS). The first two crew members, Sergey Volkov and Oleg Kononenko, were launched on 8 April 2008, aboard the Soyuz TMA-12. Once aboard the station, they joined Garrett R ...

aboard

Soyuz TMA-12 Soyuz TMA-12 was a Soyuz mission to the International Space Station (ISS) which was launched by a Soyuz FG rocket at 11:16 UTC on 8 April 2008. It docked to the Pirs module of the station on 10 April 2008. Landing occurred at 03:37 on 24 October ...

, as a flight engineer on

Expedition 30 Expedition 30 was the 30th long-duration mission to the International Space Station (ISS). The expedition's first three crew members – Dan Burbank, Anton Shkaplerov and Anatoli Ivanishin – arrived on the ISS aboard Soyuz TMA-22 on ...

and commander of

Expedition 31 Expedition 31 was the 31st long-duration expedition to the International Space Station (ISS). It began on 27 April 2012 with the departure from the ISS of the Soyuz TMA-22 spacecraft, which returned the Expedition 30 crew to Earth. The expedit ...

aboard

Soyuz TMA-03M Soyuz TMA-03M was a spaceflight to the International Space Station (ISS). It launched on 21 December 2011 from Site One at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, carrying three members of Expedition 30 to the ISS. TMA-03M was the 112th flight of ...

, as a flight engineer on

Expedition 44 Expedition 44 was the 44th expedition to the International Space Station. It commenced with the departure of Soyuz TMA-15M from the ISS with the Expedition 42/ 43 crew on 11 June 2015 and ended with the departure of Soyuz TMA-16M on 11 Septembe ...

and

Expedition 45 Expedition 45 was the 45th expedition to the International Space Station. Scott Kelly and Mikhail Korniyenko transferred from Expedition 44 as part of their year-long stay aboard the ISS. Expedition 45 began with the departure of Soyuz TMA-16M ...

aboard

Soyuz TMA-17M Soyuz TMA-17M was a 2015 flight to the International Space Station. It transported three members of the Expedition 44 crew to the International Space Station. TMA-17M was the 126th flight of a Soyuz spacecraft; the first having occurred in 1967. ...

, as a flight engineer on

Expedition 57 Expedition 57 was the 57th expedition to the International Space Station, which began on October 4, 2018, upon the departure of Soyuz MS-08. History Soyuz MS-09 crew, Alexander Gerst, Serena M. Auñón-Chancellor, and Sergey Prokopyev, since ...

and commander of

Expedition 58 Expedition 58 was the 58th expedition to the International Space Station, which began on December 20, 2018 with the departure of the Expedition 57 crew. It was commanded by cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, with astronauts Anne McClain and David Saint ...

and

Expedition 59 Expedition 59 was the 59th Expedition to the International Space Station. It started with the arrival of the Soyuz MS-12 spacecraft carrying Aleksey Ovchinin, Nick Hague and Christina Koch, joining Oleg Kononenko, David Saint-Jacques and Anne ...

aboard

Soyuz MS-11 Soyuz MS-11 was a Soyuz spaceflight that launched on 3 December 2018, marking the 100th orbital launch of the year. Originally scheduled for 20 December, the launch date was advanced to 3 December following the failure of Soyuz MS-10. MS-11 was ...

, and as a flight engineer on

Expedition 69 Expedition 69 was the 69th long-duration expedition to the International Space Station. The expedition began with the uncrewed departure of Soyuz MS-22 in March 2023 with Russian cosmonaut Sergey Prokopyev continuing his ISS command from Expedit ...

and

Expedition 70 Expedition 70 was the 70th long-duration expedition to the International Space Station. The expedition began with the departure of Soyuz MS-23 on 27 September 2023 with Danish astronaut Andreas Mogensen taking over the ISS command. It ended wit ...

and commander of Expedition 71 aboard

Soyuz MS-24 Soyuz MS-24, Russian production No. 755 and identified by NASA as Soyuz 70S, was a Russian crewed Soyuz spaceflight launched from Baikonur on 15 September 2023 to the International Space Station. Crew They were originally assigned to Soyuz M ...

Soyuz MS-25 Soyuz MS-25, Russian production No. 756 and identified by NASA as Soyuz 71S, was a Russian crewed Soyuz (spacecraft), Soyuz spaceflight from Baikonur Cosmodrome to the International Space Station. Crew MS-25 saw was the first launch of two w ...

. Kononenko has accumulated 1,111 days in space over the course of five long-duration missions on the ISS. On 4 February 2024, at 07:30:08 UTC, he broke the record for the most time spent in space previously held by

Gennady Padalka Gennady Ivanovich Padalka (; born 21 June 1958 in Krasnodar, Soviet Union) is a Russian Air Force officer and Roscosmos cosmonaut. Padalka is the only person to have served as commander of the International Space Station (ISS) four times. He previ ...

at 878 days.

Early life and career

Oleg Kononenko was born on 21 June 1964 in Chardzhou,

Turkmen SSR The Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic, also known as Soviet Turkmenistan, the Turkmen SSR, TuSSR, Turkmenistan, or Turkmenia, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union located in Soviet Central Asia, ...

(now

Türkmenabat Türkmenabat (), formerly Amul, Cärjew/Chardzhou (until 1924 and from 1940-1999), and Novy Chardzhuy (from 1927-1940), is the second-largest city in Turkmenistan and the administrative centre of Lebap Province. , it had a population of approxima ...

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the south and southwest and the Caspian Sea to the west. Ash ...

) to a simple family. His father Dmitry Ivanovich Kononenko worked as a driver in a freight trucking company, and his mother Taisiya Stepanovna Churakova was a communications operator at the

Türkmenabat Airport Türkmenabat (), formerly Amul, Cärjew/Chardzhou (until 1924 and from 1940-1999), and Novy Chardzhuy (from 1927-1940), is the second-largest city in Turkmenistan and the administrative centre of Lebap Province. , it had a population of approxima ...

. Kononenko graduated from high school No. 15 of Turkmenabat city, where he received excellent marks in the subject of the

Turkmen language Turkmen (, , , or , , , ) is a Turkic language of the Oghuz branch spoken by the Turkmens of Central Asia. It has an estimated 4.7 million native speakers in Turkmenistan (where it is the official language), and a further 359,000 speakers i ...

Education

After school, Oleg Kononenko was not able to enter the Kharkov Aviation Institute the first time. He returned home, worked for a year in the tool shop of the

aviation technical base. The second attempt was successful. Kononenko graduated from the N. E. Zhukovskiy

Kharkiv Aviation Institute Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine.

in 1988 as a

mechanical engineer Mechanical may refer to: Machine * Machine (mechanical), a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement * Mechanical calculator, a device used to perform the basic operations o ...

Experience

After graduation, Kononenko worked at the Russian Space Agency's Central Specialized Design Bureau

TsSKB-Progress Rocket and Space Centre "Progress" (), commonly known as RKTs Progress (), is a Russian joint-stock company under Roscosmos. It is responsible for building and operating the Soyuz family of rockets, which serve as the primary launch vehicles f ...

in Kuybishev, starting as an engineer and working his way up to the leading design engineer. His responsibilities included system design, analysis, and development of spacecraft electrical power systems.

Cosmonaut career

On 29 March 1996, Oleg was selected as a cosmonaut candidate by the Interagency Committee, and from June 1996 to March 1998, he underwent cosmonaut training at the

Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center The Yuri A. Gagarin State Scientific Research-and-Testing Cosmonaut Training Center (GCTC; Russian: Центр подготовки космонавтов имени Ю. А. Гагарина) is a Russian training facility responsible for trai ...

, and on 20 March 1998, was awarded the title of test cosmonaut by the Interagency Qualification Committee. In October 1998 he began training as part of the group of cosmonauts selected for the

(ISS) program. From December 2001 through April 2002, Kononenko trained as a backup flight engineer for the

Soyuz TM-34 Soyuz TM-34 was the fourth Soyuz mission to the International Space Station (ISS). Soyuz TM-34 was launched by a Soyuz-U launch vehicle. Crew Docking with ISS *Docked to ISS: April 27, 2002, 07:55 UTC (to nadir port of Zarya) *Undocked from ...

vehicle for the third ISS visiting crew. From March 2002 through February 2004, he trained as the flight engineer for the Soyuz TMA vehicle and the

Expedition 9 Expedition 9 (2004) was the ninth expedition to the International Space Station (21 April 2004 – 23 October 2004). Crew Planned crew before ''Columbia'' disaster Mission parameters *Perigee: 384 km * Apogee: 396 km *Inclinati ...

and

Expedition 11 Expedition 11 was the 11th long-duration expedition to the International Space Station. The crew arrived and departed aboard Soyuz TMA-6, which stayed at the station for the duration of the expedition in case it was needed for emergency evacua ...

primary crews. From March 2004 through March 2006, he trained as part of the group of cosmonauts selected for the ISS program. In March 2006, Kononenko began training as a flight engineer for the Soyuz TMA-12 vehicle and the Expedition 17 crew. Oleg Kononenko in the Zvezda Module

Expedition 17

Kononenko was a flight engineer on both the

mission to the International Space Station and the

mission that flew him there. The crew launched on 8 April 2008 and landed on 24 October 2008. Kononenko spent 199 days in space. Oleg Kononenko Spacewalk1 February 2012

Kononenko conducted his first spacewalk on 10 July 2008 when he ventured into space from the ''Pirs'' docking compartment airlock of the ISS. He and cosmonaut Sergey Volkov inspected their Soyuz TMA-12 spacecraft and retrieved a pyro bolt from it. This spacewalk lasted 6 hours and 18 minutes. On 15 July 2008, Kononenko again went outside from ''Pirs'' to conduct his second spacewalk. Kononenko and Volkov installed one experiment and retrieved another. They also continued to outfit the station's exterior, including the installation of a docking target on the ''Zvezda'' service module. The spacewalk was in Russian Orlan suits and Kononenko wore an Orlan suit with blue stripes. The spacewalk lasted 5 hours and 54 minutes. Kononenko returned to Earth with Expedition 17 commander Sergei Volkov and

spaceflight participant Spaceflight participant () is the term used by NASA, Roscosmos, and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for people who travel into space, but are not professional astronauts. While the term gained new prominence with the rise of space touris ...

Richard Garriott Richard Allen Garriott de Cayeux (''né'' Garriott; born 4 July 1961) is a British-born American video game developer, entrepreneur and private astronaut. Garriott, who is the son of NASA astronaut Owen Garriott, was originally a game designer ...

(who launched aboard

Soyuz TMA-13 Soyuz TMA-13 (, ''Union TMA-13'') was a Soyuz mission to the International Space Station (ISS). The spacecraft was launched by a Soyuz-FG rocket at 07:01 GMT on 12 October 2008. It undocked at 02:55 GMT on 8 April 2009, performed a deorbit burn ...

to the ISS on 12 October 2008 with the

Expedition 18 Expedition 18 was the 18th permanent crew of the International Space Station (ISS). The first two crew members, Michael Fincke, and Yuri Lonchakov were launched on 12 October 2008, aboard Soyuz TMA-13. With them was astronaut Sandra Magnus, who ...

crew). They landed at 11:37 p.m EDT 55 miles north of

Arkalyk Arkalyk or Arqalyq (, ', ; ) is a city in Kostanay Region, northern Kazakhstan. Earlier, it was the centre of Torgay Region, which was abolished in 1997. Established in 1956, it acquired the status of the city in 1965. The distance from the town ...

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

. They were flown to the

Baikonur Cosmodrome The Baikonur Cosmodrome is a spaceport operated by Russia within Kazakhstan. Located in the Kazakh city of Baikonur, it is the largest operational space launch facility in terms of area. All Russian Human spaceflight, crewed spaceflights are l ...

by helicopter, and then went on to

Zvezdny Gorodok Star City () is an area in Zvyozdny gorodok, Moscow Oblast, Russia, which has since the 1960s been home to the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center (GCTC). Officially, the area was known as "closed military townlet No. 1" and at vari ...

(Star City),

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

Expedition 30/31

On 21 December 2011, Kononenko, along with

André Kuipers André Kuipers (; born 5 October 1958) is a Dutch physician and ESA astronaut. He became the second Dutch citizen, third Dutch-born and fifth Dutch-speaking astronaut upon launch of Soyuz TMA-4 on 19 April 2004. Kuipers returned to Earth ab ...

and

Donald Pettit Donald Roy Pettit (born April 20, 1955) is an American astronaut and chemical engineer best known for his orbital astrophotography and in-space inventions such as the Zero G Cup, which received the first ever patent for an object invented in sp ...

, launched to the International Space Station to join the crew of

. He, along with his fellow crewmembers, arrived at the space station on December 23. On 12 February 2012, Kononenko and colleague cosmonaut

Anton Shkaplerov Anton Nikolaevich Shkaplerov (; born 20 February 1972) is a former Russian cosmonaut. He is a veteran of four spaceflights. Early life Shkaplerov was born 20 February 1972, in Sevastopol, Crimea. He is married to Tatyana Petrovna, and they hav ...

were scheduled to conduct a six-hour spacewalk outside the ISS. They installed shields on the Zvezda Service Module to protect it from micrometeoroid orbital debris and moved the Strela 1 crane from the Pirs docking compartment to the Poisk Mini Research Module (MRM-2). The two cosmonauts also installed struts on a ladder used by spacewalkers on the Pirs Docking Compartment. As another get-ahead task, they also installed an experiment called Vynoslivost on the Poisk Mini Research Module. As part of the Vynoslivost or "Endurance" experiment, two trays of metal samples would be left exposed on the surface of the Poisk Module. The crew returned to Earth on 1 July 2012.

Expedition 44/45

On 22 July 2015, Kononenko launched to the International Space Station as Soyuz commander, together with NASA astronaut

Kjell Lindgren Kjell Norwood Lindgren ( Chinese: 林其兒; pinyin: ''Lín Qí'ér''; born January 23, 1973) is an American astronaut who was selected in June 2009 as a member of the NASA Astronaut Group 20. He launched to the International Space Station (ISS) ...

and

Kimiya Yui , born January 30, 1970 in Kawakami, Nagano, Japan, is a Japanese astronaut from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). He was selected for the agency in 2009. Biography Yui, from Nagano Prefecture, enrolled in the Japan Air Self-Defense ...

from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) on Soyuz-TMA-17M. They spent 5 months on the International Space Station as members of the

and

crews. The trio returned to Earth in rare night landing on 11 December 2015, when their

landed safely on the steppe of Kazakhstan. Kononenko spent 142 days in space on his third mission.

Expedition 57/58/59

Kononenko launched towards the ISS for the fourth time as Soyuz commander of

on 3 December 2018 as a flight engineer on

. He was originally scheduled to be serving as a flight engineer on

and commander on

, although due to the launch failure of

Soyuz MS-10 Soyuz MS-10 was a crewed Soyuz MS spaceflight that aborted shortly after launch on 11 October 2018 due to a failure of the Soyuz-FG launch vehicle boosters. MS-10 was the 139th flight of a Soyuz spacecraft. It was intended to transport two mem ...

on 11 October 2018, the original Expedition 58 commander,

Aleksey Ovchinin Aleksey Nikolayevich Ovchinin (; born 28 September 1971) is a Russian cosmonaut and holds the rank of Podpolkovnik#Russia, Podpolkovnik (lieutenant colonel) in the in the Russian Air Force Reserve. He was selected as a cosmonaut in 2006 and mad ...

was no longer aboard the station for Expedition 58, therefore Kononenko commanded both Expedition 58 and Expedition 59. Expedition 58 started on 20 December 2018 with the departure of

Soyuz MS-09 Soyuz MS-09 was a Soyuz (spacecraft), Soyuz spaceflight that launched on 6 June 2018. It transported three members of the Expedition 56/Expedition 57, 57 crew to the International Space Station (ISS). is the 138th flight of a Soyuz spacecraft. ...

. Kononenko and fellow crew members

Anne McClain Anne Charlotte McClain (born June 7, 1979) is a colonel in the U.S. Army, engineer and a NASA astronaut. Her call sign, "Annimal", dates back to her rugby career; she also uses the call sign in her Twitter handle, AstroAnnimal. She was a flight ...

and

David Saint-Jacques David Saint-Jacques ( , ; born 6 January 1970) is a Canadian astronaut with the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). He is also an astrophysicist, engineer, and a physician. In December 2018, he launched to the International Space Station, as flight ...

returned to Earth on 24 June 2019, after 203 days 15 hours and 16 minutes in space. Kononenko always warmly recalls his stay in his motherland -

. On 31 December 2018 Kononenko showed the

flag of Turkmenistan The national flag of Turkmenistan () features a white crescent and five stars representing the five regions of the country and the Five Pillars of Islam. Placed upon a green field is a symbolic representation of the country's famous carpet indus ...

and the book "Turkmenistan is the heart of the Great Silk Road" of

Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov Gurbanguly Mälikgulyýewiç Berdimuhamedow (born 29 June 1957) is a Turkmen politician and former dentist who is currently the chairman of the People's Council of Turkmenistan. He previously served as the second president of Turkmenistan fro ...

from the ISS and wishes Happy New Year from the orbit of all Turkmenistan citizens. The astronaut also noted that he has special feelings for the country where he was born and grew up, proud and rejoiced at her achievements.

Expedition 69/70/71

In June 2020, Kononenko announced that he was planned to return to the ISS. In September 2023, he launched aboard

. He was assigned for a year mission with his Russian crew member Nikolai Chub that started on September 15, 2023. As the mission lasted 374 days, Kononenko spent a total of 1,111 days in space by the time he returned to Earth on

. He broke the world record of 878 days in space held by

on February 4, 2024 at 07:30:08 UTC. He later became the first person to stay 900, 1,000, and 1,100 days in space on 25 February 2024, 4 June 2024, and 12 September 2024 respectively.

Personal life

Kononenko studied at a specialized school of volleyball and was a member of the youth team of Turkmenistan. He is married to Tatyana Mikhailovna Kononenko (née Yurieva). They have a son, Andrey Olegovich Kononenko, and a daughter, Alisa Olegovna Kononenko. Oleg enjoys reading and team sports. In 2015, he was elected to public office in Korolyov.

Honors and awards

Hero of the Russian Federation Hero of the Russian Federation ( rus, Герой Российской Федерации, p=ɡʲɪˈroj rɐˈsʲijskəj fʲɪdʲɪˈratsɨɪ), also unofficially called Hero of Russia ( rus, Герой России, p=ɡʲɪˈroj rɐˈsʲiɪ), is ...

(5 February 2009) - for courage and heroism during space flight *

Hero of Turkmenistan The title Hero of Turkmenistan () is a state award of Turkmenistan. It was first awarded in 1992 and was awarded for service to the implementation of domestic and foreign policy. History The title of Hero of Turkmenistan was established by the L ...

(2019) *

Medal "For Merit in Space Exploration" The Medal "For Merit in Space Exploration" () is a state decoration of the Russian Federation aimed at recognising achievements in the space program. It was established by Decree of the President of Russia, presidential decree №1099 of September ...

(12 April 2011) - for great achievements in the field of research, development and utilization of outer space, many years of diligent work, public activities *

Star of President Order Star of President Order () – order of Turkmenistan. Description Order of the star of the President as the form of a star with 12 rays. In the centre of each beam is stone chrysoprase diameter 2 mm. In the center of the star is the image ...

(Turkmenistan, 16 February 2009) - In recognition of service to the government and people of Turkmenistan, for personal courage, professionalism and achievement in the performance of an international program of peaceful space exploration. *

Pilot-Cosmonaut of the Russian Federation The Honorary Title Pilot-Cosmonaut of the Russian Federation () is a state award of the Russian Federation presented to all cosmonauts who fly for the Russian Federal Space Agency. Usually accompanying the distinction is the title of Hero of th ...

(2009) *Gagarin Medal * Honorary Citizen of

Gagarin Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin; Gagarin's first name is sometimes transliterated as ''Yuriy'', ''Youri'', or ''Yury''. (9 March 1934 – 27 March 1968) was a Soviet pilot and cosmonaut who, aboard the first successful crewed spaceflight, became t ...

Smolensk Oblast Smolensk Oblast (), informally also called Smolenshchina (), is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative centre is the types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Smolensk. As of the 2021 Russ ...

(24 February 2011) - years of excellence, a deep sense of personal responsibility, the ability to navigate the complex situation and make the right decisions for his devotion to his country and the continuation of the stellar feats of Yuri Gagarin *

NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal The NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal is an award similar to the NASA Distinguished Service Medal, but awarded to non-government personnel. This is the highest honor NASA awards to anyone who was not a government employee when the service ...

(US, 2008) *

NASA Space Flight Medal The NASA Space Flight Medal is a decoration of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. According to its statutes, it is awarded "for significant achievement or service during individual participation as a civilian or military astronau ...

(USA, 2008)

References

External links

Spacefacts biography of Oleg Kononenko
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kononenko, Oleg 1964 births Living people People from Türkmenabat Russian cosmonauts RKA civilian cosmonauts National Aerospace University – Kharkiv Aviation Institute alumni Russian mechanical engineers Commanders of the International Space Station Heroes of the Russian Federation Recipients of the Medal "For Merit in Space Exploration" Recipients of the NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal Spacewalkers