By Kerry SHERIDAN
Miami (AFP) Feb 26, 2016
After nearly a year in space, US astronaut Scott Kelly
craves the simple pleasures of human contact, a shower, and a splash in a
swimming pool.
Kelly and his Russian counterpart Mikhail Kornienko
are scheduled to plunge back to Earth aboard a Soyuz spacecraft next week --
speeding through the atmosphere at a pace of 17,500 miles (28,000 kilometers)
per hour -- before landing in Kazakhstan early on March 2.
Speaking to reporters this week via video link for a
final time as he floated, microphone in hand, inside the International Space
Station, the veteran astronaut admitted to mixed feelings about returning home.
"Leaving this amazing facility is going to be
tough because I will probably never see it again," said Kelly, 52, who has
flown to space four times in his career.
"But I certainly look forward to going back to
Earth," he added from the sprawling spacecraft which circles about 250
miles (400 kilometers) above the Earth.
"There is a lot of great stuff down there that I
miss."
A New Jersey native and former Navy pilot, Kelly is
also the father of two and the twin brother of astronaut Mark Kelly.
He did not say specifically who he misses most, but
said he looks forward to reuniting with his loved ones.
"I think the hardest part is being isolated in a
physical sense from people on the ground that are important to you," he
said, listing his priorities as "human contact, the people you love on
Earth, your family, your friends."
When he gets back, he plans to head to Johnson Space
Center in Houston for a battery of medical tests.
"And then I am going to go home and jump in my
pool."
- Physical damage -
Kelly said he expects to find he has lost bone density
after a year in microgravity, and has noticed some changes in his vision
similar to what he experienced the last time he was in space, a journey that
lasted 159 days.
He and his twin brother are taking part in a battery
of tests so that NASA can study the effects of long-term spaceflight on the
body and mind, including CAT scans, MRIs, measurements of bone density, and
changes to muscles and blood vessels, including the heart.
Scientists are also looking to compare any genetic
changes from radiation in the two men.
Kelly described radiation's long-term effects as
"the biggest unknown."
"Of all the concerns, that is my biggest,"
he added.
Doctors are not sure if spending so long in space
could eventually lead to cancer.
"It would always be hard to know," said
Barry Rosenstein, professor of radiation oncology at the Icahn School of
Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York.
Rosenstein described the amount of radiation Kelly has
received as "relatively low," enough to raise his lifetime cancer
risk in "the ballpark of a few percent."
But even if he does develop cancer years from now, it
would be difficult to pin down the root cause, since there are no molecular
tests to identify a cancer that is caused by radiation versus cancer that is
caused be any other reason, Rosenstein told AFP.
NASA has said the Kelly-Kornienko mission will help
the US space agency prepare for a longer journey to deep space, including Mars,
during which the radiation load would be far higher.
- A changed perspective -
Despite yearning for a shower, after bathing with
towelettes and using a toilet equipped with a suction tube for almost a year,
Kelly managed to have some fun in space.
He grew a garden of zinnias, snacked on the first
space lettuce, snapped vivid pictures of the Earth and floated around in a
gorilla suit to raise schoolkids' interest in space.
He will return to Earth holding the record of the
longest time spent in space by an American. In all, he will have lived 520 days
of his life in space.
Russian Valeri Polyakov holds the all-time record for
longest single space mission with nearly 438 days at the Mir Space Station in
1994 and 1995.
And Russian Genny Padalka -- who flew to space with
Kelly and Kornienko last year -- has spent a total of 878 days in space.
Kelly said things like records, souvenirs and mementos
from space are not that important to him.
But what has changed is his perspective on the Earth.
"You definitely have a heightened sense of
empathy and also you notice the effect of our presence on the planet," he
said, mentioning the heavy pollution visible near the Himalayas.
"It makes you somewhat -- if you weren't already
-- an environmentalist."
.
Related Links
Station at NASA
Station and More at Roscosmos
S.P. Korolev RSC Energia
Watch NASA TV via Space.TV
Space Station News at Space-Travel.Com
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