Gennady Padalka record flight FLOWN ISS cover - Expedition 43/44

Gennady Padalka Flown ISS Record Cover – Commemorating 878 Days in Space – From Padalka’s Personal Collection

An exceptional flown International Space Station cover personally associated with record-setting cosmonaut Gennady Padalka, commemorating his achievement as the world’s most experienced space traveler of his era.

The cover was personally selected and prepared by Padalka, bears a special cachet chosen by him, and is hand-signed by Padalka. It carries three onboard ISS postmarks dated March 28, June 29, and September 11, 2015, documenting key stages of his final long-duration mission aboard Expeditions 43 and 44. During this flight, Padalka served alongside Terry Virts, Anton Shkaplerov, Samantha Cristoforetti, Scott Kelly, Mikhail Kornienko, Oleg Kononenko, Kjell Lindgren, and Kimiya Yui across the two expedition crews.

Padalka returned to Earth on September 11, 2015, completing his fifth spaceflight and bringing his career total to approximately 879 days in space—often cited as 878 days in official retrospective summaries—then the all-time record for cumulative human spaceflight.

Of especially strong provenance, this cover originated directly from Gennady Padalka’s personal collection and later entered the collection of renowned astrophilatelist Jacques Bracke.

A highly personal and historically important flown artifact commemorating one of the great endurance records in human spaceflight, distinguished by three onboard ISS cancellations, Padalka’s signature, his personally selected cachet, and exceptional dual provenance.