1. Oleg Dmitriyevich Kononenko is a Russian cosmonaut.
25 Facts About Oleg Kononenko
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Oleg Kononenko was born on 21 June 1964 in Chardzhou, Turkmen SSR to a simple family.
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Oleg Kononenko's 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 Turkmenabat Airport.
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Oleg Kononenko graduated from high school No 15 of Turkmenabat city, where he received excellent marks in the subject of the Turkmen language.
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Oleg Kononenko returned home, worked for a year in the tool shop of the Turkmenabat Airport aviation technical base.
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Oleg Kononenko's responsibilities included system design, analysis, and development of spacecraft electrical power systems.
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On 29 March 1996, Oleg Kononenko 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, and on 20 March 1998, was awarded the title of test cosmonaut by the Interagency Qualification Committee.
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From December 2001 through April 2002, Oleg Kononenko trained as a backup flight engineer for the Soyuz TM-34 vehicle for the third ISS visiting crew.
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In March 2006, Oleg Kononenko began training as a flight engineer for the Soyuz TMA-12 vehicle and the Expedition 17 crew.
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Oleg Kononenko was a flight engineer on both the Expedition 17 mission to the International Space Station and the Soyuz TMA-12 mission that flew him there.
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Oleg Kononenko conducted his first spacewalk on 10 July 2008 when he ventured into space from the Pirs docking compartment airlock of the ISS.
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On 15 July 2008, Oleg Kononenko again went outside from Pirs to conduct his second spacewalk.
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The spacewalk was in Russian Orlan suits and Oleg Kononenko wore an Orlan suit with blue stripes.
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Oleg Kononenko returned to Earth with Expedition 17 commander Sergei Volkov and spaceflight participant Richard Garriott.
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On 22 July 2015, Oleg Kononenko launched to the International Space Station as Soyuz commander, together with NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren and Kimiya Yui from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency on Soyuz-TMA-17M.
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Oleg Kononenko spent 142 days in space on his third mission.
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Oleg Kononenko launched towards the ISS for the fourth time as Soyuz commander of Soyuz MS-11 on 3 December 2018 as a flight engineer on Expedition 57.
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Oleg Kononenko was scheduled to be serving as a flight engineer on Expedition 58 and commander on Expedition 59, although due to the launch failure of Soyuz MS-10 on 11 October 2018, the original Expedition 58 commander, Aleksey Ovchinin was no longer aboard the station for Expedition 58, therefore Kononenko commanded both Expedition 58 and Expedition 59.
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On 31 December 2018 Oleg Kononenko showed the flag of Turkmenistan and the book "Turkmenistan is the heart of the Great Silk Road" of Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov from the ISS and wishes Happy New Year from the orbit of all Turkmenistan citizens.
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In June 2020, Oleg Kononenko announced that he was planned to return to the ISS.
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Oleg Kononenko was assigned for a year mission with his Russian crew member Nikolai Chub that started on September 15,2023.
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Oleg Kononenko broke the world record of 878 days in space held by Gennady Padalka on February 4,2024 at 07:30:08 UTC.
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Oleg Kononenko 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.
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Oleg Kononenko studied at a specialized school of volleyball and was a member of the youth team of Turkmenistan.
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Oleg Kononenko is married to Tatyana Mikhailovna Kononenko.