{"id":19452,"date":"2016-02-25T19:30:47","date_gmt":"2016-02-25T11:30:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/nasa-astronaut-scott-kelly-i-could-spend-another-year-in-space-but-im-ready-to-come-home\/"},"modified":"2016-02-25T19:30:47","modified_gmt":"2016-02-25T11:30:47","slug":"nasa-astronaut-scott-kelly-i-could-spend-another-year-in-space-but-im-ready-to-come-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/nasa-astronaut-scott-kelly-i-could-spend-another-year-in-space-but-im-ready-to-come-home\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA astronaut Scott Kelly: I could spend another year in space, but I\u2019m ready to come home"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Scott
NASA astronaut Scott Kelly answers questions from the International Space Station. (Credit: NASA)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

NASA astronaut Scott Kelly is getting ready to come home after spending a longer stretch in orbit than any other American in history, but he says he could stay in space for double that time.<\/p>\n

\u201cI could go another 100 days. I could go another year if I had to. It would just depend on what I was doing and if it made sense, although I do look forward to getting home here next week,\u201d he told journalists today during a space-to-ground news conference.<\/p>\n

The next few days will cap off a 340-day tour of duty on the International Space Station, which is aimed at studying how long-duration spaceflight could affect astronauts during even longer trips to Mars and back. Kelly and his fellow year-in-spacer, Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko, are due to come back to Earth in a Soyuz capsule along with Russian crewmate Sergey Volkov on March 1.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=bqEl6RnEbvQ<\/p>\n

Kelly now holds the U.S. record for longest continuous time in space, but not the world record: That belongs to Russia\u2019s Valery Polyakov, who stayed on Russia\u2019s Mir space station for just over 437 days.<\/p>\n

The International Space Station is a lot more comfortable than Mir was, Kelly said, but some things will have to change when planners design the spacecraft where Mars-bound astronauts could spend 500 days or more.<\/p>\n

<\/span> The hardest part is being isolated in a physical sense from people on the ground that are important to you.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cProbably almost half the time I\u2019ve been here, between sleeping and working on the computer, I\u2019ve spent basically in a box the size of a phone booth,\u201d he said. \u201cMaking that private area as perfect as possible, I think, would go a long way toward reducing fatigue, reducing stress and helping for a successful mission.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also, it\u2019s a little tough to do without running water for nearly a year. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of like I\u2019ve been in the woods camping for a year,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Kelly said he\u2019s experiencing some vision impairment \u2013 which turns out to be a common complaint for long-duration spacefliers. But for the most part, he said, \u201cI feel pretty good.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe hardest part is being isolated in a physical sense from people on the ground that are important to you,\u201d Kelly said.<\/p>\n

One of those people is his twin brother, Mark Kelly, who also served as an astronaut until his retirement from NASA in 2011. The two brothers, who turned 52 this week, are participating in a study that focuses on how spaceflight affects biological functions, all the way down to the genetic level.<\/p>\n