Space Yearling Scott Kelly Returns to Earth Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Summary: Space yearling Scott Kelly returns to Earth March 1, with Mikhail Kornienko, his Russian year-in-space partner, via a Russian Soyuz spacecraft.

Space yearlings Scott Kelly (left) and Mikhail "Misha" Kornienko will return to Earth March 1, 2016, after spending 340 days in space. On Jan. 21, 2016, the NASA astronaut and the Russian cosmonaut observed their 300th consecutive day aboard the International Space Station: Public Domain, via NASA

A year in space that began Friday, March 27, 2015, concludes Tuesday, March 1, 2016, when space yearling Scott Kelly returns to Earth via a Russian Soyuz spacecraft with Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko, his partner in the International Space Station Year Long Mission.

Space yearling Scott Kelly looks forward to his Earth-destined journey via a sophisticated Soyuz spacecraft next week.

“It’s so, you know, so much fun for me that I had said, you know, after my last flight that if I would have, you know, hated being in space for six months, I would have done it all over again just for that last 20 minutes in the Soyuz. It’s that type of an experience. So hopefully, you know, by me being able to anticipate what, you know, what’s coming, it’ll be even more enjoyable this time,” Kelly tells NASA public affairs officer Rob Navias in a reflective interview broadcast Thursday, Jan. 28, 2016, via Houston’s Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center.

Space yearling Scott Kelly will give a final, in-orbit news conference Thursday, Feb. 25, at 12:05 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration will make the conference available as a live broadcast on NASA Television (URL: http://www.nasa.gov/nasatv).

Scott Kelly brings to his landing next week at the world’s first and largest operational space launch facility, Kazakhstan’s Baikonur Cosmodrome, record-breaking accomplishments as a NASA astronaut. On Friday, Oct. 16, 2015, a little over three weeks before the 15th anniversary of the International Space Station’s continuous human presence, Kelly marks his 383rd cumulative day in space. He breaks by one day the previous record of 382 cumulative days set Wednesday, June 1, 2011, by Pennsylvania astronaut Edward Michael “Mike” Fincke.

His upcoming International Space Station departure date will mark 520 cumulative days in space for space yearling Scott Kelly. The 340 days spent on the International Space Station Year in Space Mission stands as the longest time spent continuously in space by a NASA astronaut.

The International Space Station Year Long Mission aims for identifying the effects of long-duration spaceflight on the human body. The mission also is expected to yield insights into adjustments made by the human body in order to cope with such extreme factors as isolation, radiation, stress and weightlessness. Insights gleaned from the International Space Station Year Long Mission will be applied to future long-term missions, including expeditions to asteroids, Earth’s moon and Mars.

“We still have some very critical activities to do, but I think, by and large, you know, our time here has demonstrated not only the capability for us to stay in space for a long time and to do well, but also the capability of the ground teams to support us and the systems that keep us alive and the resupply, and do this in a way that is, you know, forward-thinking toward a potential flight to Mars,” Kelly assesses the mission’s success during his Jan. 28 interview.

While space yearling Scott Kelly tests the impact of 340 days in space on his well-being, down on Earth his identical twin brother, retired astronaut Mark Kelly, serves as the ground control subject for a genetic-level comparative study of psychological and physiological changes resulting from Earth-based versus space-based living. Mark Kelly is married to Gabrielle “Gabby” Giffords, who is still recovering from an assassination attempt Saturday, Jan. 8, 2011, during her tenure as an Arizona congresswoman in the United States House of Representatives.

On Monday, May 13, 2013, Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield marked his last day aboard the International Space Station by recording his guitar-and-vocal version of David Bowie's "Space Oddity." How will space yearlings Scott Kelly and Mikhail "Misha" Kornienko bid their farewells to the International Space Station Year in Space Mission?

The International Space Station's approximately 16 daily orbits gift astronauts with two sunrises and two sunsets each day: Scott Kelly @StationCDRKelly via Twitter Feb. 23, 2016

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Space yearlings Scott Kelly (left) and Mikhail "Misha" Kornienko: Public Domain, via NASA @ http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/one-year-crew-returns-from-space-station-march-1-live-coverage-on-nasa-tv

The International Space Station's approximately 16 daily orbits gift astronauts with two sunrises and two sunsets each day: Scott Kelly @StationCDRKelly via Twitter Feb. 22, 2016, @ https://twitter.com/StationCDRKelly/status/701931412560064512

For further information:

Marriner, Derdriu. "International Space Station: 15 Years of No Off-the-Earth Vacancies." Earth and Space News. Saturday, Nov. 7, 2015.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/11/international-space-station-15-years-of.html

Scott Kelly @StationCDRKelly. "#Countdown Let's take this 16 sunsets at a time. 8 days to go tomorrow! #GoodNight from @space_station! #YearInSpace." Twitter. Feb. 22, 2016.
Available @ https://twitter.com/StationCDRKelly/status/701931412560064512

Thompson, Tabatha; and Dan Huot. "One-Year Crew Returns from Space Station March 1; Live Coverage on NASA TV." NASA > Press Release > Space Station. Feb. 24, 2016.
Available @ http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/one-year-crew-returns-from-space-station-march-1-live-coverage-on-nasa-tv