On Mar. 27, Scott Kelly and Mikhail Kornienko will be flying to the International Space Station aboard the Russian capsule Soyuz to begin their year-long mission in space.
This will be the first time that anyone will be staying at the space station continuously for a year, the first of many steps NASA and the Russian Federal Space Agency are taking to evaluate long-term space exploration.
Both Kelly and Kornienko are veterans when it comes to space travel, having stayed at the ISS for 180 and 176 days, respectively. Additionally, Kelly has been on two space shuttle missions in the past. Their mission is actually not the first time that anyone has stayed in space in a year (Russian cosmonauts spent a year or more in space between 1987 and 1995) but it will be a first for NASA.
The two were assigned to do the year-long mission in 2012. Kelly and Kornienko also know each other from before, having been both part of the Expedition 23/24 crew. Kelly was a backup crew member while Kornienko was a flight engineer.
"The goal of their year-long expedition aboard the orbiting laboratory is to understand better how the human body reacts and adapts to the harsh environment of space," explained NASA in a statement.
During their stay, Kelly and Kornienko will be gathering data that will aid in evaluating current means of assessment for crew health and performance, helping come up with better alternatives that will ultimately lessen risks that future explorations may bring.
Their research will focus on seven areas: functional, behavioral health, visual impairment, metabolic, physical performance, microbial and human factors. However, Kelly and Kornienko will also be doing a number of other experiments, typical of a stay at the ISS. A standard six-month mission translates into about 200 experiments so the two will definitely be busy.
At the same time, Kelly is also participating in the "Twins Study" by NASA with his twin brother Mark. The study looks into how identical twins change during the course of a year when subjected to two different environments.
Launching from Kazakhstan's Balkonur Cosmodrome, Kelly and Kornienko will be flying to the ISS together with another cosmonaut, Gennady Padalka, who will be staying at the space station for a six-month mission.
Kelly and Kornienko's year-long mission will coincide with Sarah Brightman's trip to the ISS. The British singer is scheduled to launch in October, also aboard a Soyuz capsule, and will be staying at the space station for 10 days.
