After 340 days in space, American astronaut Scott Kelly is back on Earth. Kelly, who spent the time about 400 km above the planet aboard the International Space Station (ISS), and the Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko landed on Tuesday at 11.26 pm Eastern on Wednesday (10 am IST) in Kazakhstan. Kelly, in a bulky, white spacesuit, pumped his fist and smiled as he was helped out of his space capsule. The spacecraft departed from the ISS on Tuesday at 8.02 pm Eastern.
From Kazakhstan, Kelly will travel to Houston, US, where he was scheduled to arrive later on Wednesday. Among those who will greet him there will be his identical twin, Mark, also an astronaut.
Scientists will study 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.
Combined with his other three trips to space, Kelly has now spent 540 days of his life in orbit. The 340-day stay far surpassed the previous American record — 215 days — set by Michael Lopez-Alegria 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," Kelly said last week in a news conference.
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