According to a report in IANS, the White House said that President Obama spoke on the phone with Scott Kelly on Wednesday, welcoming him back to Earth from his yearlong mission on the International Space Station (ISS) and also tweeted him about the same!
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Astronaut Scott Kelly just completed a 340-day mission aboard the International Space Station and scientists hope the mission will help pave the way to Mars.
Kelly began his long career in the United States Armed Forces when he received a commission after graduating from the State University of New York Maritime College in 1987.
Waiting for Kelly, 52, in Houston were his two daughters and girlfriend, along with his identical twin brother, retired astronaut Mark Kelly, and his sister-in-law, former Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. Kelly and Kornienko specifically conducted studies for NASA’s journey to Mars.
A lot of changes take place inside our body when it is exposed to the vastness of space. So it is hard to imagine what it was like for Scott Kelly.
“Nothing more American that that”, she said.
The astronaut said it felt like a lifetime in space, but he was determined to go the distance.
Kelly and Kornienko had checked out of the space station three and a half hours earlier.
Kelly’s flight had some delays, but fellow NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren showed the Second Lady around the Johnson Center while they were waiting.
The International Space Station is now being operated by the crew of Expedition 47 that has NASA astronaut Tim Kopra in command, along with Tim Peake of ESA (European Space Agency) and Yuri Malenchenko of Roscosmos. Given Kelly’s experience, he believes going to Mars is within reach. As well as the cancer risk.
The two-year-long spacemen faced a series of medical tests following touchdown. “It’s an unbelievable feeling to be back here on planet Earth, back in our country, with my family and my friends”, Kelly says.
Cosmic radiation can tear through your DNA, and can cause cancer, cataracts, or other diseases.
One obvious change for Kelly was that he came back 2 inches taller than his brother because a lack of gravity causes spinal disks to expand.
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When astronauts return to Earth, they must re-adjust to gravity and can have issues with balance and simple tasks like standing up, walking or operating a vehicle.
