Science News Roundup: Russian cosmonaut to set record Sunday for most time spent in space -reports and China launches Jielong-3 rocket as commercial missions pick up pace

As expected, at 11:30:08 Moscow time (0830:08 GMT), the 59-year-old Kononenko will exceed the achievement of his compatriot Gennady Padalka, who accumulated a total of 878 days, 11 hours, 29 minutes and 48 seconds over five space flights before retiring in 2017, the state news agency TASS reported. China launches Jielong-3 rocket as commercial missions pick up pace A small but powerful Chinese rocket capable of carrying payloads at competitive costs delivered nine satellites into orbit on Saturday, Chinese state media reported, in what is gearing up to be another busy year for Chinese commercial launches.

Following is a summary of current science news briefs.

Russian cosmonaut to set record Sunday for most time spent in space -reports

Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko is expected to set a world record on Sunday for the duration of space flights with nearly 2-1/2 years in total, Russian news agencies reported. As expected, at 11:30:08 Moscow time (0830:08 GMT), the 59-year-old Kononenko will exceed the achievement of his compatriot Gennady Padalka, who accumulated a total of 878 days, 11 hours, 29 minutes and 48 seconds over five space flights before retiring in 2017, the state news agency TASS reported.

China launches Jielong-3 rocket as commercial missions pick up pace

A small but powerful Chinese rocket capable of carrying payloads at competitive costs delivered nine satellites into orbit on Saturday, Chinese state media reported, in what is gearing up to be another busy year for Chinese commercial launches. The Jielong-3, or Smart Dragon-3, blasted off from a floating barge off the coast of Yangjiang in southern Guangdong province, the second launch of the rocket in just two months.