Olivia Cavallaro Science 09.19.2022 23:Sep PM EDT

Russian Cosmonaut Valery Polyakov, Who Spent the Most Consecutive Days in Space, Passes Away

Valery Polyakov, a cosmonaut from Soviet-era Russia who set the record for most consecutive days spent in space, has died at the age of 80. News of Polyakov's death on Monday came via Russia's space agency.

On Telegram, Russia's federal space corporation Roscosmos described Polyakov as "the Hero of the Soviet Union, Hero of Russia, USSR pilot-cosmonaut," and the "holder of the world record for the longest flight into space." Polyakov spent 437 consecutive days in space.

Who was Valery Polyakov?

Born Valery Ivanovich Korshunov on April 27, 1942 in Tula, Russia, Polyakov later changed his name after he was adopted by his stepfather, the New York Times reported. Growing up, he was inspired to study space medicine after witnessing Boris Yegorov become the first physician to travel to space.

The NYT report added that in Moscow, Polyakov studied at the Institute of Medical and Biological Problems. On January 8, 1994, the Soviet cosmonaut went on a journey to the Russian Mir space station, where he spent more than 400 days and orbited Earth up to 7,075 times. His total miles incurred reached 187 million, and on March 22, 1995, Polyakov safely landed back on Earth, the New Mexico Museum of Space History reported.

Polyakov's Lengthy Space Mission

Space.com reported that Polyakov spent a total of 678 days, 16 hours, and 32 minutes away from Earth, which ranked the Russian cosmonaut eighth for total time spent in space. His longest stint in space began on August 29, 1988, during his first mission aboard the Soyuz TM-6, in which he journeyed with Intercosmos cosmonaut Abdul Ahad Momand, who was the first Afghani to travel into space, and commander Vladimir Lyakhov.

This mission wasn't Polyakov's longest, however. During the 1988 mission, Polyakov spent 241 days on the Mir space station and then departed with Alexander Volkov and Sergei Krikalev on April 27, 1989, the Space report added. Polyakov's 1994 trip to space was the most meaningful of all his missions, as it was not only the longest but it was also carried out so that scientists could determine if the human body could survive a trip to Mars.

Upon landing back on Earth in 1995, Polyakov declared to his crewmates, "We can fly to Mars." AP News reported that the Russian cosmonaut also refused to be carried out of the Soyuz spacecraft as astronauts need to be assisted as they readjust to Earth's gravity. Polyakov instead insisted on climbing out himself with little assistance and walked to a transport vehicle.

Russia to Continue Spaceflight Sharing Contract with US

In late August, Roscosmos' executive director Sergei Krikalev confirmed that Russia would agree to extend a contract with the US to share flights to the International Space Station (ISS) after 2024, Reuters reported. Back in July, Rocosmos and NASA signed a contract for Russian and American astronauts to swap places when flying to the ISS using American and Russian spacecraft.

The Reuters report added that the agreement covered six flights between 2022 and 2024, which meant American astronauts would get three flights on the Soyuz spacecraft while Russian astronauts would also get three flights on NASA's spacecraft. This agreement still holds despite the number of sanctions filed against Russia following its invasion of Ukraine in February.