Astronaut Scott Kelly Returns From His Year In Space
March 3, 2016
U.S. Astronaut Scott Kelly, who returned to Earth this week, is seen on July 2015 inside the cupola, a special module within the International Space Station that provides a wide range of views of Earth and the space station.
On March 1, United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) astronaut Scott Kelly returned to Earth after a very long stay at the International Space Station (ISS). In fact, Kelly, along with his Russian counterpart cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko, set a record for the longest-ever stay at the ISS, at 340 days. Kelly also set a record for longest time in space for a NASA astronaut.
An astronaut is a person who pilots a spacecraft or works in space, particularly in the space program of the United States. In Russia and the other former republics of the Soviet Union, such men and women are called cosmonauts. Astronauts and cosmonauts operate spacecraft and space stations, launch and recapture artificial satellites, and conduct scientific experiments.
Astronaut Kelly and cosmonaut Kornienko left for the ISS on March 27, 2015. They spent the better part of a year at the space station, performing scientific experiments and maintenance. There was another important component to Kelly’s mission. Over the course of the year, scientists studied how living in space affected his heart, the distribution of fluids in his body, his behavior and decision-making skills, and even his microbiome (the microbes that live in and on a plant or animal). His results were compared with those from his identical twin brother, retired NASA astronaut Mark Kelly, the husband of former Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.
Mark Kelly’s stay on Earth during his brother’s mission will help researchers to more precisely understand what happens to the human body when it spends long periods of time in microgravity (very low gravity). For example, the Kelly Twins were the same height when Scott Kelly left one year ago. Upon his return, Scott is 2 inches (5 centimeters) taller than Mark. This effect is temporary, but it illustrates how a body may be affected by time in space. Studies on the Kelly Twins will help identify some of the health problems that astronauts traveling to Mars or living at a permanent moon base might experience. It will hopefully lead to prevention and treatment programs.
Scott Kelly now holds the records for most consecutive days (340) and most total days (522) in space by an American astronaut. Records are made to be broken, however. Astronaut Jeffrey Williams, who is scheduled to arrive at the ISS later this month, has spent a total of 362 days in space and should set the new record at 534 days by the time his mission is over. For his part, Kelly is hoping his records are broken by future astronauts going to Mars and beyond. In part due to his mission, those astronauts should know how to stay as healthy as possible while spending months in space.
Other articles from Behind the headlines
- A Long Stay in Space (March 30, 2015)
- Tim Peake Becomes First Official British Astronaut Aboard the ISS
