MOSCOW, March 10 European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Dane Andreas Mogensen handed over command of the International Space Station to Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, the ceremony is broadcast by NASA.
During the ceremony, the Dane handed over the symbolic key to the station to the Russian, after which the crew traditionally struck the ship's bell. As the Roscosmos press service previously reported, Kononenko will be the commander of the ISS until the end of September 2024. On February 4, the Russian cosmonaut became the record holder for the total time spent in space, overtaking the previous champion in this indicator, Gennady Padalka (he spent more than 878 days in orbit). By the time Kononenko returns to Earth, his total “flying time” will reach 1110 days.
«Oleg, you are now on your way to a thousand days in space. There is probably no one more experienced than you when it comes to International Space station. Therefore, I hand over the key to, perhaps, the most suitable hands for this,” Mogensen addressed Kononenko.
Mogensen arrived at the ISS with Russian cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov, NASA astronaut Jasmine Moghbeli and Japan Aerospace Agency astronaut Satoshi Furukawa on August 27, 2023. They reached the station on the American ship Crew Dragon. It is planned that the ship with the crew will undock from the ISS on March 11 and splash down on March 12 off the coast of Florida.
The crew of the 70th long-term expedition will continue to work at the station. Together with Kononenko, Russian cosmonauts Nikolay Chub and Alexander Grebenkin, as well as astronauts Loral O'Hara, Matthew Dominic, Michael Barratt and Jeanette Epps will work on the ISS.
The flight of the next spacecraft — Soyuz MS-25, which will bring The ISS of Russian Oleg Novitsky, Belarusian Marina Vasilevskaya and American Tracy Dyson is scheduled for March 21.