Astronaut Scott Kelly Returning To Earth After Spending Nearly 1 Year In Space
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- After nearly a year in space, U.S. astronaut Scott Kelly is returning to Earth.
The 52-year-old New Jersey native's 340-day mission will come to a dramatic end Tuesday on the remote steppes of Kazakhstan. He will ride a Soyuz spacecraft back with two Russians, including Mikhail Kornienko, his roommate for the past year.
NASA's first and only yearlong spaceman will go through a series of physical and medical tests as soon as he returns from the International Space Station. The landing is scheduled for 11:27 p.m. Eastern.
#Countdown We're down to a wakeup. #Earth. I'm coming for you tomorrow! #GoodNight from @space_station! #YearInSpace pic.twitter.com/kLe2755XyG
— Scott Kelly (@StationCDRKelly) March 1, 2016
Returning from a mission of this length will pose challenges.
"Muscle loss, bone loss, make sure he's able to get up, also your balance," former astronaut Mike Massimino told WCBS 880's Peter Haskell.
Kelly will take a crack at a mini-obstacle course and attempt to walk a straight line. It's all so researchers can see whether he'd be able to hit the ground running if this were Mars instead of Earth.
NASA considers it crucial prep work for future Mars explorers who will spend much longer in space.
"Going up there for six months is not an easy thing, going up there for a year is not an easy thing either," Massimino said. "If we're going to send people to Mars, that's a long way away and you're looking at about two and a half years of being gone."
Kelly has now spent the most cumulative time in space of any American in history.
Kelly's twin brother, Mark, is also part of the experiment, Haskell reported.
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