In advance of the formal scientific results, however, Kelly revealed some of the effects of his space odyssey – some of them unexpected. He is also experiencing sensitive skin, which he described as nearly a burning sensation, when he is sitting, lying down or walking. And he can’t sink a basketball shot. “So, at the end of the space station era or thereafter, we can give a “go” to the manager of the Mars program and say that yes, we think we understand what needs to be done to keep astronauts happy, healthy and performing at [a] high level – not just alive, but performing at a high level for the duration of the Mars missions” .
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Kelly returned from the International Space Station on Wednesday, ending a 340-day mission that set a USA record.
Kelly – looking and acting remarkably hearty after 340 days in space – was reunited with his family earlier in the morning in Houston after a flight from Kazakhstan, where his mission ended. “We make do with not having a shower on board [the space station] – I definitely feel like I would like jump in a pool” . Scott noted that he grew an inch and a half in orbit, thanks to the stretching of the spinal column in weightlessness, but “gravity pushes you back down to size”, he said, and now they are the same height again. There are even samples taken onboard the ISS that won’t return until May, when a SpaceX resupply vehicle equipped with a freezer comes back to Earth.
Kelly is still adjusting mentally to being back in an environment where gravity pulls things down.
Kelly flew aboard the station for 159 days in 2010-11 and said he initially felt better after landing this time around than he did the last.
“I’m used to going 17,500 miles per hour, but this airplane doesn’t quite do that”, Kelly quipped after a belated 2:30 a.m. EST/0730 GMT touchdown on Thursday at Ellington Field near the Johnson Space Center.
NASA astronaut Scott Kelly speaks during a press conference Friday, March 4, 2016, in Houston. NASA wants to know how the body and mind adjust to long periods in space before sending astronauts to Mars; expeditions are planned for the 2030s.
“It’s really not a good thing, and one of the problems is sometimes they don’t fit back in their suits to come back in the planet so we have to plan for that slight growth”, says Henry Ford Hospital surgeon and NASA scientist Scott Dulchavski.
He and Russian cosmonaut, Mikhail Kornienko, served about twice as long as previous ISS crew members as part of a pilot program to help NASA and its partners prepare for eventual human missions to Mars that will last at least two years. “(I’d) always take his (phone) call”, he said.
Kelly’s active social media life, which he said was a joint effort with his girlfriend, earned him a huge following online.
Today is busy for Kelly, who is now the US record holder for time in space.
As for differences between the brothers – genetic doubles who took part in medical studies throughout the flight – Mark has a better tan, according to Scott.
“I will never be done with space, I will always be involved”, Kelly said.
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But the view from the space “is great, too ” , he said.
