NASA astronaut Scott Kelly has returned home safely from the International Space Station after a historic 340 consecutive days spent in space. While this may be the conclusion of the Year in Space Mission, NASA’s work has only just begun. While on board, Kelly participated in a variety of studies to help researchers understand the impacts of long-term spaceflight on the body and will continue to undergo extensive testing on Earth.
In addition, he and crew members Mikhail Kornienko and Sergey Volkov conducted more than 400 experiments, completed numerous spacewalks, and captured stunning images from all around the globe during their time on the ISS. Read on to learn about some of the most fascinating facts from the mission, and how research conducted in space will be used to launch humankind to Mars and beyond.
1. To get back home, the crew members traveled about 250 miles from the space station to Earth’s surface. This may seem far, but it pales in comparison to the 143,846,525 miles that Scott Kelly traveled while in orbit.
Over this time period, Kelly also circled the Earth 5,440 times and witnessed about 16 sunrises and sunsets per day. See some of the stunning photos on his Instagram here.
2. Kelly performed a total of three spacewalks and logged 18 hours and 20 minutes on EVA (extravehicular activity).
3. Throughout the mission Kelly consumed an estimated 730 liters of recycled sweat and urine.
The water recycler on board the ISS can recycle about 93% of its liquid input by using a spinning distiller to separate out contaminants.
4. After landing, Scott is currently seeing things from a bit of a different perspective - during his time in space he grew two inches taller!
This "growth spurt" is a result of decompression in the spine due to the lack of the force of gravity on Kelly's body, and he will return to his original height over time. This change is just one of the factors that NASA researchers will evaluate when they compare Scott to his identical twin brother Mark, who remained on Earth while Scott was in space.
5. As part of the twin study, researchers will evaluate factors such as aging, gene expression, immune system function, and cellular behavior to understand how living in a microgravity environment for an extended period of time impacts the body.
Researchers will also perform a mental health study by evaluating changes in Scott’s decision making and reasoning abilities.
6. On board the International Space Station, Kelly and his crew mates harvested red romaine lettuce and grew the first flower in space. Researching new methods of food production in space will be crucial to sustaining human life on a future trip to Mars.
Thank you Scott, Mikhail, and Sergey, for your incredible service and commitment to enriching our understanding of the universe.
