ISS year long mission

Scott Kelly and Mikhail Korniyenko

The Year Long Mission on the International Space Station is a scientific research project that studies the health effects of long term spaceflight.[1] Scott Kelly and Mikhail Korniyenko will spend 342 days in space, with scientists performing medical experiments. Kelly and Kornienko departed in March 2015 on Soyuz TMA-16M along with Gennady Padalka.[2][3][4][5] The mission encompasses Expeditions 43, 44, 45 and currently, 46.[6]

The pair will land in Kazakhstan in the spring of 2016.[7]

History

Mark and Scott Kelly are identical twins, and will be studied for changes in their health, comparing a body in space to a body on earth[8]

In November 2012, NASA, the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), and their international partners selected two veteran spacefarers for a one-year mission aboard the International Space Station in 2015. The mission includes collecting scientific data important to future human exploration of the Solar System. Kelly and Korniyenko already had a connection; Kelly was a backup crew member for the station's Expedition 23/24 crews, where Korniyenko served as a flight engineer.

Patch for the yearlong mission

The goal aboard the orbiting laboratory is to understand better how the human body reacts and adapts to the harsh environment of space.[6] Data from the 12 months will help inform current assessments of crew performance and health and will determine better and validate countermeasures to reduce the risks associated with future exploration as NASA plans for missions around the Moon, asteroids and ultimately Mars.[9]

Health studies

The International Space Station has developed exercise equipment, including treadmills and resistance devices to limit muscle atrophy in a low gravity environment. Weightlessness causes body fluids in astronauts to accumulate in the upper half of the body, leading to facial edema and unwelcome side effects. Studies on astronauts have suggested that weightlessness leads to vision problems due to increased intracranial pressure changing the shape of the eyeball.

Psychological studies

The study will also require the astronauts to keep a journal, and will study the psychological effects of living in a confined space for an extended length of time. Kornienko said of his experiences on Expedition 23/24: "The thing you miss there most of all is the Earth itself, I missed smells. I missed trees, I even dreamt of them. I even hallucinated. I thought I smelled a real fire and something being barbecued on it! I ended up putting pictures of trees on the walls to cheer up. You do miss the Earth there".[10]

Scott stated that he missed feeling changes in the weather while on the ISS.[11]

History

Vladimir Titov and Musa Manarov spent 365 days in space on Mir from December 1987 to December 1988.

Sergei Avdeyev spent 379 days on Mir in 1999 and Valeri Polyakov spent 437 days on Mir in 1995.[12][13] Prior to the Year Long Mission, the longest mission on the ISS was 215 days, by Mikhail Tyurin and Michael López-Alegría. Samantha Cristoforetti holds the record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman at 199.7 days.[14]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Soyuz TMA-16M.

References

  1. ↑ Jeffrey Kluger (18 Dec 2014). "Meet the Twins Unlocking the Secrets of Space: NASA's One-Year Mission with Mark and Scott Kelly". Time. Retrieved 2015-12-14.
  2. ↑ "Historic yearlong mission crew launches to space station on Soyuz TMA-16M". collectSPACE. 27 March 2015. Retrieved 2015-12-14.
  3. ↑ AFP (27 March 2015). "Soyuz spacecraft with Russian, US astronauts blasts off for year-long mission". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 2015-12-14.
  4. ↑ Brooks Hays (27 March 2015). "Soyuz rocket launches yearlong space station crew". United Press International. Retrieved 2015-12-14.
  5. ↑ Irene Klotz (27 March 2015). "U.S., Russian crew blasts off for year-long stay on space station". Reuters. Retrieved 2015-12-14.
  6. 1 2 Jason Davis (25 March 2015). "One-Year ISS Mission Preview: 28 Experiments, 4 Expeditions and 2 Crew Members". The Planetary Society. Retrieved 2015-12-14.
  7. ↑ Robert Pearlman (21 January 2015). "Obama Hails NASA Astronaut Set for 1-Year Space Voyage in State of the Union". Space.com. Retrieved 2015-12-14.
  8. ↑ Eric Berger (20 March 2015). "Year-long mission the next step for Kelly, NASA". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2015-12-14.
  9. ↑ "NASA, Roscosmos Assign Veteran Crew to Yearlong Space Station Mission". NASA. 26 November 2012. Retrieved 2012-11-26.
  10. ↑ Chris Arridge (12 September 2015). "Record-breaking astronauts return to Earth – taking us one step closer to Mars". The Conversation. Retrieved 2015-12-14.
  11. ↑ "Crew of First Yearlong Expedition Aboard ISS Previews Mission". NASA/YouTube. 16 January 2015. Retrieved 2015-12-14.
  12. ↑ Schwirtz, Michael (30 March 2009). "Staying Put on Earth, Taking a Step to Mars". New York Times. Retrieved 2009-04-15.
  13. ↑ "Last Human to Spend a Year in Space Discusses Upcoming ISS One Year Mission". ReelNASA/YouTube. 26 March 2015. Retrieved 2015-12-14.
  14. ↑ Alyssa Newcomb (11 June 2015). "Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti Returns Home After Setting Space Record". ABC News. Retrieved 2015-12-14.
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