Oleg Kononenko, a man who has already made history in world cosmonautics, has received one of the key positions in the industry. He has been appointed head of the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center (CTC). At the same time, the record holder has not retired from flights. Kononenko is still listed as the commander of the ISS-77 mission crew.
Kononenko is one of the most experienced cosmonauts in the world. He has five flights under his belt and a world record for the total duration of stay in orbit.
In 2024, he became the first person in history to have spent a total of more than 1,000 days in space. At the same time, another record was set - 374 days for one mission on the International Space Station.
The new head of the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center is 61 years old and remains an active cosmonaut.
The head of Roscosmos, Dmitry Bakanov, has already approved Kononenko as the head of the Cosmonaut Training Center. Prior to this, the record holder had been acting as head for several months.
Kononenko was previously appointed commander of the Soyuz MS-31 spacecraft as part of the ISS-77 mission. Alexander Grebenkin is also included in the main crew, and Nikolai Chub and Alexander Gorbunov are in reserve.
The Cosmonaut Training Center forms crews, conducts training, practices emergency situations, and makes decisions about readiness for flights.
The appointment took place against the backdrop of preparations for the next stage of the domestic manned program. This refers not only to continuing work on the ISS, but also to the future Russian Orbital Station.
