Russian cosmonaut Kononenko becomes ISS commander

WASHINGTON. March 11 (Interfax) - Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko has become the new commander of the International Space Station (ISS).

The United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is broadcasting the ceremony of transferring the ISS command on Sunday.

Kononenko took over the space station's command from European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Andreas Mogensen, who has been acting commander since September 26, 2023.

Mogensen handed Kononenko a symbolic key to the station, after which the crew traditionally struck the space station's bell.

Kononenko will be the ISS commander until the end of September this year.

On February 4, Kononenko set a world record for the total duration of space flights. At the end of the current expedition (scheduled for September 23, 2024), Kononenko's total flight time will be 1,110 days.

According to NASA, Roscosmos cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov, NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, ESA astronaut Mogensen from Denmark, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa will return to the Earth on March 12.

Roscosmos cosmonauts Kononenko, Nikolai Chub, Alexander Grebenkin, NASA astronaut Loral O'Hara, Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt and Jeanette Epps will continue to work on the station after the spacecraft departs.