NASA, via Associated Press
After 340 days in space, Scott Kelly is coming home.
It is the longest trip to space an American astronaut has ever taken.
Mr.
Kelly, who spent the time about 249 miles above the planet aboard the
International Space Station, and the Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko
will begin the journey back to Earth at 4:15 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday.
They are scheduled to land in Kazakhstan around 11:25 p.m.
You can watch coverage online at NASA Television.
From
Kazakhstan, Mr. Kelly will travel to Houston. He is scheduled to arrive
at 11:45 p.m. Wednesday, and will be greeted by NASA officials; Jill
Biden, the wife of Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.; and his identical
twin brother, Mark Kelly, also an astronaut.
Scientists
will study Mr. Kelly for the health effects of extended space travel,
expecting it to be a steppingstone for a potential trip to Mars. They
will have an unusual partner in the research: His twin will also be
analyzed.
If
you’re waiting to hear Scott Kelly’s perspective on the experience,
you’ll have to be patient a little while longer. He won’t address
the news media until 2 p.m. Friday. NASA scientists will answer
questions on Reddit at 11 a.m. that day, and the agency will also hold a
news conference to discuss research accomplishments at 1 p.m.
Scott Kelly’s Year in Space
On Tuesday, Scott J. Kelly is scheduled to return from
the International Space Station, completing the longest stay in space
for a NASA astronaut. Here are some ways to measure his mission.
Mr.
Kelly has documented much of his trip on his Instagram and Twitter
accounts, which became popular largely because of his distant views of
Earth and its otherworldly sunrises and sunsets (he witnessed 10,944 of
them). On Day 141, he posted a spectacular video of the aurora borealis.
Rise and shine! My last #sunrise from space then I gotta go! 1 of 5. #GoodMorning from @space_station! #YearInSpace pic.twitter.com/F1MFo5MwjQ—
Scott Kelly (@StationCDRKelly)
March 1, 2016
Combined
with his other three trips to space, Mr. Kelly has now spent 540 days
of his life in orbit. The 340-day stay far surpassed the previous record
— 215 days — set by Michael López-AlegrÃa in 2006 and 2007. The
international record is nearly 438 days, set by the Russian cosmonaut
Valeri Polyakov on the Mir space station in 1994 and 1995.
“I
could go another year if I had to,†Mr. Kelly said last week in a
wide-ranging news conference. He was looking forward to jumping in his
pool, he said, adding that the hardest part was being away from friends
and family.
But
Mr. Kelly managed to maintained a sense of levity, including dressing
up in a gorilla suit. Highlights of the trip included a spacewalk and
enjoying the first lettuce grown and harvested in space.
“Kind of like arugula,†Mr. Kelly said.
It was one small bite for man, one giant leap for
#NASAVEGGIE and our #JourneytoMars. #YearInSpacehttps://t.co/B7Gkfm1Vz0
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