Today marks astronaut Scott Kelly’s 300th day in space! He, along with Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko, are testing the limits of human research during their one-year mission onboard the International Space Station.
While most expeditions to the space station last four to six months, their time on orbit has been doubled. By increasing the length of their time in space, researchers hope to better understand how the human body reacts and adapts to long-duration spaceflight.
What happens when you’ve been in space for 300 days?
1. You might get bored and play ping pong with yourself…and a water droplet.
2. There’s a chance that you’ll get a Tweet from someone famous…like the President!
3. There may come a time where you’ll have to fix something outside the station during a spacewalk.
4. You might develop a ‘green thumb’ and grow plants in space.
5. And, there’s no doubt you get to see the Earth from a totally new perspective.
Astronaut Scott Kelly and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko returned from their One-Year Mission on March 1. When you spend a year doing anything, you’re bound to accumulate some crazy stats. Here are a few:
During their year in space, Kelly and Kornienko traveled over 143 million miles, conducting research to prepare us for our journey to Mars, which will be about 140,000,000 miles from Earth.
The International Space Station travels at a speed of 5 miles per second and orbits the Earth every 90 minutes.
These visiting vehicles brought food, supplies, experiments and more crew members to the space station.
Since the space station is orbiting the Earth at 17,500 miles per hour, the crew onboard sees 16 sunrises and sunsets each day.
Water is a precious and limited resource in space, so crew members recycle it whenever possible. That includes recycling their own urine.
NASA astronaut Scott Kelly hosted a Reddit Ask Me Anything on Jan. 23 where people, well, asked him anything.
Kelly answered a range of questions from whether the crew members play space pranks on one another (“Occasionally…” Kelly said without elaboration.) to whether Kelly’s recovery plan will be different than normal (“I think my rehab plan is the same as if I were here for 6 months, but I’m not positive.”).
To start off, here are a few quick facts we learned about Kelly during the AMA:
The advice he would’ve given himself before going into space on day 1 would be to pack lighter.
His favorite David Bowie song is “Modern Love,” and his favorite non-space related movie is “The Godfather."
He uses a Nikon D4 when taking pictures (camera settings and lenses vary).
He thought it was cool to watch the movie "Gravity” while he was on the space station, because that’s where the movie took place.
Once he lands, Kelly will miss the challenge of being aboard the space station the most.
Here are a few fun questions that astronaut Scott Kelly answered:
What’s the creepiest thing you’ve encountered while on the job?
Could a rogue spaceship sneak up on the space station?
We finally got an answer for one thing so many of you have been curious about…why does Scott Kelly always fold his arms?
When astronauts go up to space, they experience something very few others have and see Earth from a very unique perspective. What’s one thing Kelly will do differently once he returns home?
Kelly also told one user something unusual about being in space that people normally don’t think about: feet calluses.
Another user wanted to know what the largest societal misconception about space/space travel is. According to Kelly, it has nothing to do with science.
To read the entire Reddit AMA with Kelly, visit his IAmA thread.
Kelly’s #YearInSpace ends Mar. 2. Follow him until the end of the journey (and beyond) on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Astronaut Scott Kelly returned home from his year in space mission on March 1. Spending that much time in space allowed him to rack up some pretty cool milestones. Here are some of his awesome “firsts”:
Firsts on Social Media
While in space, Scott Kelly had the opportunity to host the first NASA TweetChat from space.
The first ever Tumblr AnswerTime from space was hosted by Scott Kelly during his One Year Mission.
Scott Kelly hosted the first NASA Reddit AMA from space.
Before leaving for his year in space, President Obama asked him to Instagram his time on orbit…a Presidential request to Instagram is a first!
Firsts for Scott
During his year in space, Scott conducted his first spacewalk. He hadn’t spacewalked on any of his previous missions, but did so three times during the One Year Mission.
Firsts for an American Astronaut
Most notably, Scott Kelly is the first U.S. astronaut to spend a year in space. His time on orbit also allowed us to conduct the first ever Twins Study on the space station. While Scott was in space, his twin brother Mark Kelly was on Earth. Since their genetic makeup is as close to identical as we can get, this allows a unique research perspective. We can now compare all of the results from Scott in space to his brother Mark on Earth.
During his year in space, Scott had the opportunity to be one of the first astronauts to harvest and eat lettuce grown in the space station’s VEGGIE facility.
Space flowers! Scott was also one of the firsts to help grow and harvest zinnia flowers in the VEGGIE facility. Growing flowering plants in space will help scientists learn more about growing crops for deep-space missions and our journey to Mars.
NASA astronaut Scott Kelly and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko may have had a year-long stay in space, but the science of their mission will span more than three years. One year before they left Earth, Kelly and Kornienko began participating in a suite of investigations aimed at better understanding how the human body responds to long-duration spaceflight. Samples of their blood, urine, saliva, and more all make up the data set scientists will study. The same kinds of samples continued to be taken throughout their stay in space, and will continue for a year or more once they return.
2. What We Learn is Helping Us Get to Mars
One of the biggest hurdles of getting to Mars is ensuring humans are “go” for a long-duration mission and that crew members will maintain their health and full capabilities for the duration of a Mars mission and after their return to Earth. Scientists have solid data about how bodies respond to living in microgravity for six months, but significant data beyond that timeframe had not been collected…until now. A mission to Mars will likely last about three years, about half the time coming and going to Mars and about half the time on Mars. We need to understand how human systems like vision and bone health are affected by the 12 to 16 months living on a spacecraft in microgravity and what countermeasures can be taken to reduce or mitigate risks to crew members during the flight to and from Mars. Understanding the challenges facing humans is just one of the ways research aboard the space station helps our journey to Mars.
3. The Science Will Take Some Time
While scientists will begin analyzing data from Kelly and Kornienko as soon as they return to Earth, it could be anywhere from six months to six years before we see published results from the research. The scientific process takes time, and processing the data from all the investigations tied to the one-year mission will be no easy task. Additionally, some blood, urine and saliva samples from Kelly and Kornienko will still be stored in the space station freezers until they can be returned on the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft. Early on in the analytical process scientists may see indications of what we can expect, but final results will come long after Kelly and Kornienko land.
4. This Isn’t the First Time Someone Has Spent a Year in Space
This is the first time that extensive research using exciting new techniques like genetic studies has been conducted on very long-duration crew members. Astronaut Scott Kelly is the first American to complete a continuous, year-long mission in space and is now the American who has spent the most cumulative time in space, but it’s not the first time humans have reached this goal. Previously, only four humans have spent a year or more in orbit on a single mission, all aboard the Russian Mir Space Station. They all participated in significant research proving that humans are capable of living and working in space for a year or more.
Russian cosmonaut Valery Polyakov spent 438 days aboard Mir between January 1994 and March 1995 and holds the all-time record for the most continuous days spent in space.
Cosmonaut Sergei Avdeyev spent 380 days on Mir between August 1998 and August 1999.
Cosmonauts Vladimir Titov and Musa Manarov completed a 366-day mission from December 1987 to December 1988.
5. International Collaboration is Key
The International Space Station is just that: international. The one-year mission embodies the spirit of collaboration across countries in the effort to mitigate as many risks as possible for humans on long-duration missions. Data collected on both Kelly and Kornienko will be shared between the United States and Russia, and international partners. These kinds of collaborations help increase more rapidly the biomedical knowledge necessary for human exploration, reduce costs, improve processes and procedures, and improve efficiency on future space station missions.
6. So Much Science!
During Kelly’s year-long mission aboard the orbiting laboratory, his participation in science wasn’t limited to the one-year mission investigations. In all, he worked on close to 400 science studies that help us reach for new heights, reveal the unknown, and benefit all of humanity. His time aboard the station included blood draws, urine collection, saliva samples, computer tests, journaling, caring for twocrops in the Veggie plant growth facility, ocular scans, ultrasounds, using the space cup, performing runs with the SPHERES robotic satellites, measuring sound, assisting in configuring cubesats to be deployed, measuring radiation, participating in fluid shifts testing in the Russian CHIBIS pants, logging his sleep and much, much more. All of this was in addition to regular duties of station maintenance, including three spacewalks!
7. No More Food in Pouches
After months of eating food from pouches and cans and drinking through straws, Kelly and Kornienko will be able to celebrate their return to Earth with food of their choice. While aboard the space station, their food intake is closely monitored and designed to provide exactly the nutrients they need. Crew members do have a say in their on-orbit menus but often miss their favorite meals from back home. Once they return, they won’t face the same menu limitations as they did in space. As soon as they land on Earth and exit the space capsule, they are usually given a piece of fruit or a cucumber to eat as they begin their initial health checks. After Kelly makes the long flight home to Houston, he will no doubt greatly savor those first meals.
8. After the Return Comes Reconditioning
You’ve likely heard the phrase, “Use it or lose it.” The same thing can be said for astronauts’ muscles and bones. Muscles and bones can atrophy in microgravity. While in space, astronauts have a hearty exercise regimen to fight these effects, and they continue strength training and reconditioning once they return to Earth. They will also participate in Field Tests immediately after landing. Once they are back at our Johnson Space Center, Functional Task Tests will assess how the human body responds to living in microgravity for such a long time. Understanding how astronauts recover after long-duration spaceflight is a critical piece in planning for missions to deep space.
9. Twins Studies Have Researchers Seeing Double
One of the unique aspects of Kelly’s participation in the one-year mission is that he has an identical twin brother, Mark, who is a former astronaut. The pair have taken part in a suite of studies that use Mark as a human control on the ground during Scott’s year-long stay in space. The Twins Study is comprised of 10 different investigations coordinating together and sharing all data and analysis as one large, integrated research team. The investigations focus on human physiology, behavioral health, microbiology/microbiome and molecular/omics. The Twins Study is multi-faceted national cooperation between investigations at universities, corporations, and government laboratories.
10. This Mission Will Help Determine What Comes Next
The completion of the one-year mission and its studies will help guide the next steps in planning for long-duration deep space missions that will be necessary as humans move farther into the solar system. Kelly and Kornienko’s mission will inform future decisions and planning for other long-duration missions, whether they are aboard the space station, a deep space habitat in lunar orbit, or a mission to Mars.
Friday, Oct. 20, NASA astronauts Randy Bresnik and Joe Acaba ventured outside the International Space Station for a 6 hour and 49 minute spacewalk. Just like you make improvements to your home on Earth, astronauts living in space periodically go outside the space station to make updates on their orbiting home.
During this spacewalk, they did a lot! Here’s a recap of their day told in GIFs…
All spacewalks begin inside the space station. Astronauts Paolo Nespoli and Mark Vande Hei helped each spacewalker put on their suit, known as an Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU).
They then enter an airlock and regulate the pressure so that they can enter the vacuum of space safely. If they did not regulate the pressure safely, the astronauts could experience something referred to as “the bends” – similar to scuba divers.
Once the two astronauts exited the airlock and were outside the space station, they went to their respective work stations.
Bresnik replaced a failed fuse on the end of the Dextre robotic arm extension, which helps capture visiting vehicles.
During that time, Acaba set up a portable foot restraint to help him get in the right position to install a new camera.
While he was getting set up, he realized that there was unexpected wearing on one of his safety tethers. Astronauts have multiple safety mechanisms for spacewalking, including a “jet pack” on their spacesuit. That way, in the unlikely instance they become untethered from the station, the are able to propel back to safety.
Bresnik was a great teammate and brought Acaba a spare safety tether to use.
Once Acaba secured himself in the foot restraint that was attached to the end of the station’s robotic arm, he was maneuvered into place to install a new HD camera. Who was moving the arm? Astronauts inside the station were carefully moving it into place!
And, ta da! Below you can see one of the first views from the new enhanced HD camera…(sorry, not a GIF).
After Acaba installed the new HD camera, he repaired the camera system on the end of the robotic arm’s hand. This ensures that the hand can see the vehicles that it’s capturing.
Bresnik, completed all of his planned tasks and moved on to a few “get ahead” tasks. He first started removing extra thermal insulation straps around some spare pumps. This will allow easier access to these spare parts if and when they’re needed in the future.
He then worked to install a new handle on the outside of space station. That’s a space drill in the above GIF.
After Acaba finished working on the robotic arm’s camera, he began greasing bearings on the new latching end effector (the arm’s “hand”), which was just installed on Oct. 5.
The duo completed all planned spacewalk tasks, cleaned up their work stations and headed back to the station’s airlock.
Once safely inside the airlock and pressure was restored to the proper levels, the duo was greeted by the crew onboard.
They took images of their spacesuits to document any possible tears, rips or stains, and took them off.
Headaches can be a common complaint during spaceflight. The Space Headaches experiment improves our understanding of such conditions, which helps in the development of methods to alleviate associated symptoms, and improve the well-being and performance of crew members in orbit. This can also improve our knowledge of similar conditions on Earth.
FACT: You don’t need to be a pilot to be an astronaut. Flying experience is not a requirement, but it could be beneficial to have.
MYTH: All astronauts have perfect vision.
FACT: It’s OK if you don’t have 20/20 vision. As of September 2007, corrective surgical procedures of the eye (PRK and LASIK), are now allowed, providing at least one year has passed since the date of the procedure with no permanent adverse aftereffects.
MYTH: All astronauts have advanced degrees, like a PhD.
FACT: While a master’s degree from an accredited university is typically necessary to become an astronaut, an exception exists if you have completed a medical degree or test pilot school.
MYTH: Astronauts are required to have military experience to be selected.
FACT: Military experience is not required to become an astronaut.
MYTH: You must be a certain age to be an astronaut.
FACT: There are no age restrictions. Astronaut candidates selected in the past have ranged between the ages of 26 and 46, with the average age being 34.
OK, but what are the requirements?
Basic Qualification Requirements
Applicants must meet the following minimum requirements before submitting an application:
Be a U.S. citizen.
Have completed a master’s degree (or foreign equivalent) in an accredited college or university with major study in an appropriate technical field of engineering, biological science, physical science, computer science, or mathematics.
The master’s degree requirement can also be met by having:
Completed at least two years (36 semester hours or 54 quarter hours) in an accredited PhD or related doctoral degree program (or foreign equivalent) with major study in an appropriate technical field of engineering, biological science, physical science, computer science, or mathematics.
Completed a Doctor of Medicine, Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, or related medical degree (or foreign equivalent) in an accredited college or university.
Completed or be currently enrolled in a Test Pilot School (TPS) program (nationally or internationally recognized) and will have completed this program by June 2025. (Must submit proof of completion or enrollment.)
If TPS is your only advanced technical degree, you must have also completed a bachelor’s degree or higher (or foreign equivalent) at an accredited college or university with major study in an appropriate technical field of engineering, biological science, physical science, computer science, or mathematics.
Have at least three years of related professional experience obtained after degree completion (or 1,000 Pilot-in-Command hours with at least 850 of those hours in high-performance jet aircraft for pilots). For medical doctors, time in residency can count toward experience and must be completed by June 2025.
Be able to pass the NASA long-duration flight astronaut physical.
Each month, we highlight a different research topic on the International Space Station. In June, our focus is Air and Space Science.
How is the space station being used to study space? Studies in fundamental physics address space, time, energy and the building blocks of matter. Recent astronomical observation and cosmological models strongly suggest that dark matter and dark energy, which are entities not directly observed and completely understood, dominate these interactions at the largest scales.
The space station provides a modern and well-equipped orbiting laboratory for a set of fundamental physics experiments with regimes and precision not achievable on the ground.
For example, the CALorimetric Electron Telescope (CALET) is an astrophysics mission that searches for signatures of dark matter (pictured above). It can observe discrete sources of high energy particle acceleration in our local region of the galaxy.
How is the space station contributing to aeronautics? It provides a long-duration spaceflight environment for conducting microgravity physical science research. This environment greatly reduces buoyancy-driven convection and sedimentation in fluids. By eliminating gravity, space station allows scientists to advance our knowledge in fluid physics and materials science that could lead to better designated air and space engines; stronger, lighter alloys; and combustion processes that can lead to more energy-efficient systems.
How is the space station used to study air? The Cloud-Aerosol Transport System (CATS) is a laster remote-sensing instrument, or lidar, that measures clouds and tiny aerosol particles in the atmosphere such as pollution, mineral dust and smoke. These atmospheric components play a critical part in understanding how human activities such as fossil fuel burning contribute to climate change.
The ISS-RapidScat is an instrument that monitors winds for climate research, weather predictions and hurricane monitoring from the International Space Station.
For more information on space station research, follow @ISS_Research on Twitter!
LaRue Burbank, mathematician and computer, is just one of the many women who were instrumental to NASA missions.
4 Little Known Women Who Made Huge Contributions to NASA
Women have always played a significant role at NASA and its predecessor NACA, although for much of the agency’s history, they received neither the praise nor recognition that their contributions deserved. To celebrate Women’s History Month – and properly highlight some of the little-known women-led accomplishments of NASA’s early history – our archivists gathered the stories of four women whose work was critical to NASA’s success and paved the way for future generations.