Monthly Archives: November 2012

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - Two veterans of the International Space Station will return for an experimental year-long stay aboard the orbital outpost, a test run for future missions to the moon, asteroids and Mars, NASA said on Monday.

Former U.S. space shuttle pilot and station commander Scott Kelly, 48, who last flew in 2011, will be paired with Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko, 52, for a 12-month space station assignment beginning in early 2015. Kornienko served as a flight engineer aboard the station in 2010.

"The one-year increment will expand the bounds of how we live and work in space and will increase our knowledge ... as we prepare for future missions," NASA associate administrator William Gerstenmaier said in a statement.

Only four people have lived off-planet for a year or longer, all Russians who served aboard the now-defunct Mir space station. The single longest stay in space was a 438-day mission in 1994-1995 by cosmonaut Valery Polyakov, a physician.

The current U.S. record for a long-duration flight is held by former International Space Station commander Michael Lopez-Alegria, who spent 215 days in orbit between September 2006 and April 2007.

"You don't really notice it until you come back and begin recovery," Lopez-Alegria told Reuters. "When you come back, you decide whether you've pushed it too far or not."

With the retirement of the space shuttles last year and the completion of the U.S. construction of the $100 billion station, NASA is working on a new space transportation system that can fly astronauts to the moon, asteroids and other destinations in deep space. The goal is to send a crew to Mars in the mid-2030s.

The year-long station missions are intended to collect medical data and to test protocols for countering some of the adverse impacts of long-duration spaceflight, including bone and muscle loss, risks to eyesight and reproductive systems and changes in the immune and cardiovascular systems.

Kelly and Kornienko are scheduled to begin a two-year training program early next year.

(Editing by Jim Loney)

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U.S. astronaut, Russian cosmonaut to spend a year in space

Samples from the Seedling Growth investigation aboard the International Space Station help researchers study the impact of the microgravity environment on plant growth. Credit: NASA

Published: Nov. 27, 2012 at 5:08 PM

GREENBELT, Md., Nov. 27 (UPI) -- NASA says it is conducting plant research aboard the International Space Station because life in space may depend on it during future long-duration missions.

Using plants to provide a food source and to recycle carbon dioxide into breathable oxygen may prove critical for astronauts who will live in space for months at a time, the space agency said in a release Tuesday.

Several plant-growing experiments have been conducted to help scientists understand the impact of zero gravity conditions on plant growth, NASA said.

Plants can provide a sense of well-being, scientists said, noting that at the McMurdo Station for research in Antarctica -- a site that in the dead of winter mirrors the space station in its isolation, cramped quarters, and hostile environment -- the most sought after section of the habitat is the greenhouse.

Both NASA and the European Space Agency have conducted plant research on the ISS, with several future experiments planned.

One aim of the experiments, scientists said, is to identify specific plants that are better able to withstand long duration spaceflight and microgravity conditions.

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Gardening could help long space missions

NASA astronaut ScottKelly and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko will spend an entire year aboard the International Space Station. The extended mission will help provide information about far-flung trips to asteroids and Mars.

A former space shuttle commander whose twin brother is married to former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords will attempt the longest spaceflight ever by an American.

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NASA astronaut ScottKelly and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko will spend an entire year aboard the International Space Station beginning in 2015.

Both countries' space agencies announced the names of the two veteran spacefliers on Monday. The extended mission was approved almost two months ago to provide a medical foundation for future missions around the moon, as well as far-flung trips to asteroids and Mars.

Both men already have lived aboard the space station for six months. NASA wanted experienced space station astronauts to streamline the amount of training necessary for a one-year stint. Officials had said the list of candidates was very short. They will begin training next year.

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"Their skills and previous experience aboard the space station align with the mission's requirements," Bill Gerstenmaier, head of human exploration for NASA, said in a statement. "The one-year increment will expand the bounds of how we live and work in space and will increase our knowledge regarding the effects of microgravity on humans as we prepare for future missions beyond low-Earth orbit."

Kelly's identical twin brother, Mark Kelly, retired from the astronaut corps last year and moved to Tucson, Ariz., his wife's hometown. The former congresswoman was critically wounded in an assassination attempt in January 2011, while ScottKelly was living aboard the space station.

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Scott Kelley: Longest space station sojourn will be test for Mars mission