Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka has set a new world record for the longest time spent in space.
Padalka, who currently works on the International Space Station (ISS), is on his fifth space flight. His flight began on March 27, 2015, and is expected to end on September 11.
Padalka has spent a total of 880 days in space, compared with the previous record of 803 days, set by cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev ten years ago.
To break the record officially, Padalka must spend 5 percent more time in the space than the current record-holder. This means the new record can be officially recognized only in early August, reports news agency TASS.
"Today [June 29] at 01:42 (Moscow time), Padalka broke the world record set by former chief of the Cosmonaut Training Center Sergei Krikalev, who, over the course of six flights - to the Russian station 'Mir' and later to the ISS - spent 803 days, 9 hours and 41 minutes in space," said an agency source.
On June 21, 2015, Gennady Padalka celebrated his 57th birthday on the International Space Station. His first space flight was in 1999 to the Mir station. His later flights took place in 2004, 2009 and 2012.