US astronaut Cook to spend almost a year aboard ISS, to set new women's record

MOSCOW, April 16 (Bernama) -- US astronaut Christina Cook will spend almost a year aboard the International Space Station (ISS) and will set a new women's record for the longest time in space, reported Sputnik news agency, quoting a rocket and space industry source on Tuesday.

"Taking into account that the launch and the landing of the Soyuz MS-13 spaceship have been postponed at the request of NASA from July 6 to 20 and from Dec 18 to Feb 6, respectively, Christina Cook will return to Earth on this spacecraft together with Russian (cosmonaut) Alexander Skvortsov and Italian Luca Parmitano, will be in space (for) 392 days, or 11 months," the source said.

Cook will set a new women's record for the longest spaceflight, beating US astronaut Peggy Whitson, who spent 289 days in space in 2016-2017, according to the source.

-- BERNAMA