879 days! Russian cosmonaut breaks record for total time spent in space

[Admin]

Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko has now racked up more than 879 days in space, breaking the record for most time spent off Earth.

879 days! Russian cosmonaut breaks record for total time spent in space : Read more

 

[Cisventure Astronot]

I wonder why NASA doesn't seem as interested in this sort of thing. Is it because Roscosmos is handling it, or maybe it's too dangerous. It could be that it's of dubious value, and the only reason Roscosmos does it is for the record, but I'm biased against Roscosmos.

 

[Rob77]

I wonder why NASA doesn't seem as interested in this sort of thing. Is it because Roscosmos is handling it, or maybe it's too dangerous. It could be that it's of dubious value, and the only reason Roscosmos does it is for the record, but I'm biased against Roscosmos.

I too question this - if they are serious about sending people to Mars wouldn't they testing long term exposure in space over a typical Mars mission which im assuming would take at least 18 months. I do hope the Russians have this in mind - I don't care who gets to Mars first, I just want to see it in my life time.

 

[Cisventure Astronot]

I too question this - if they are serious about sending people to Mars wouldn't they testing long term exposure in space over a typical Mars mission which im assuming would take at least 18 months. I do hope the Russians have this in mind - I don't care who gets to Mars first, I just want to see it in my life time.

Good point. That might be what the lunar gateway is for, testing habitability in extra-magnetosphere environments for long durations. Whether we'll build the gateway, or do long duration missions, remains to be seen, however.

 

[Unclear Engineer]

Valery Polyakov's 438 consecutive day single-flight duration record is still only about 14 months, a bit shy of one-way to Mars. But, that probably gives a good look at the effects of flights about that long. Still, a mission to Mars is two of those, plus some time on the Martian surface in low G and high rad.

Maybe the first test mission for the Mars crew in their flight quarters would be 18 months in lunar orbit, 6 months on the lunar surface, and another 18 months in lunar orbit before heading back to Earth for a good physical and psychological exam. Both the equipment and the crew probably should to be proven capable in a situation where rescue is possible, before getting launched to where any failure is probably fatal.