Valeri Polyakov

This cosmonaut holds the record for the longest single stay in space

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Valeri Polyakov adapted well to life in space. Then again, the cosmonaut spent more than enough time away from our planet to make it feel like a second home, with not one but two lengthy stays in low-Earth orbit.

The first came in 1988 when he resided on the Soviet Union’s Mir space station for 240 days. He arrived there after launching onboard Soyuz TM-6 as a doctor-cosmonaut on 29 August 1988 and ventured back on TM-7 in April 1989 after conducting many medical experiments.

But even that paled in comparison to his mammoth stint five years later. Having been on board Mir from 8 January 1994 to 22 March 1995, he set the record for the longest single stay in space – a staggering 437 days and 18 hours. Those 14 months have never been beaten since.