Halfway into a year in space — the longest ever attempted at the International Space Station (ISS) — US astronaut Scott Kelly on Monday said he misses fresh air, but is adapting well.
Kelly and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko agreed to double the length of a typical astronaut’s mission at the ISS to help the world’s space agencies study how long-term space travel affects the human body and mind.
Such research is viewed as invaluable as NASA aims to send humans to Mars in the 2030s, but it is not easy for the two men, who have been circling the Earth since late March.
“I feel pretty good overall,” Kelly said in an interview from the ISS, broadcast on NASA television.
Kornienko did not participate in the event, which was organized by the National Press Club in the US capital.
“What I am looking most forward to is just getting to the end of it with as much energy and enthusiasm as I had at the beginning,” said Kelly, whose participation in the study could be particularly useful since his health can be compared with that of his twin brother, Mark, a retired astronaut participating in the study from Earth.
Asked what he missed most about Earth, Kelly said: “Being with people you care about, family and friends, just going outside.”
“This is a very closed environment, you can never leave,” he added.
“The lighting is pretty much the same, the smell... everything is the same. Even most prisoners can get out, but we cannot,” he said.
Kelly and Kornienko’s mission is the longest at the ISS, which was first visited by astronauts in 2000.
However, the record for the longest time spent in space is held by Russia’s Valeri Polyakov, who stayed in the Mir Space Station for 14 months in the mid-1990s.
Living in space can have odd effects on the body, said Kelly, who has been to the ISS multiple times and previously spent a six-month stint there, the typical mission length.
“We do not really use the bottom of our feet much,” he said. “After five months you have baby feet.”
However, he also said he is better able to do certain tasks now than he was at the beginning.
“My ability to move around is really improved over time,” he said. “You just get more comfortable. Your clarity of thought is greater, your ability to focus. I found that the adaptation has not stopped and it will be interesting to see six months from now.”
There is plenty that scientists will not know until long after the experiment is over, including how radiation in space might have affected Kelly and Kornienko, and how Kelly’s long-term health compares with his twin brother.
Living in space has been shown to lead to bone loss and vision problems in astronauts, and the astronauts are being carefully studied with state-of-the-art equipment.
However, with any trip to Mars likely to last months or years, Kelly said he hopes the ISS research will show that humans are able to adjust and thrive during extended stays in space.
“I think over the long term it won’t be an issue,” Kelly said. “We as a species, throughout evolution, we have shown we are very adaptable.”
A new online voting system aimed at boosting turnout among the Philippines’ millions of overseas workers ahead of Monday’s mid-term elections has been marked by confusion and fears of disenfranchisement. Thousands of overseas Filipino workers have already cast their ballots in the race dominated by a bitter feud between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and his impeached vice president, Sara Duterte. While official turnout figures are not yet publicly available, data from the Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC) showed that at least 134,000 of the 1.22 million registered overseas voters have signed up for the new online system, which opened on April 13. However,
EUROPEAN FUTURE? Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama says only he could secure EU membership, but challenges remain in dealing with corruption and a brain drain Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama seeks to win an unprecedented fourth term, pledging to finally take the country into the EU and turn it into a hot tourist destination with some help from the Trump family. The artist-turned-politician has been pitching Albania as a trendy coastal destination, which has helped to drive up tourism arrivals to a record 11 million last year. US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, also joined in the rush, pledging to invest US$1.4 billion to turn a largely deserted island into a luxurious getaway. Rama is expected to win another term after yesterday’s vote. The vote would
ALLIES: Calling Putin his ‘old friend,’ Xi said Beijing stood alongside Russia ‘in the face of the international counter-current of unilateralism and hegemonic bullying’ Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday was in Moscow for a state visit ahead of the Kremlin’s grand Victory Day celebrations, as Ukraine accused Russia’s army of launching air strikes just hours into a supposed truce. More than 20 foreign leaders were in Russia to attend a vast military parade today marking 80 years since the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, taking place three years into Russia’s offensive in Ukraine. Putin ordered troops into Ukraine in February 2022 and has marshaled the memory of Soviet victory against Nazi Germany to justify his campaign and rally society behind the offensive,
Myanmar’s junta chief met Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) for the first time since seizing power, state media reported yesterday, the highest-level meeting with a key ally for the internationally sanctioned military leader. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing led a military coup in 2021, overthrowing Myanmar’s brief experiment with democracy and plunging the nation into civil war. In the four years since, his armed forces have battled dozens of ethnic armed groups and rebel militias — some with close links to China — opposed to its rule. The conflict has seen Min Aung Hlaing draw condemnation from rights groups and pursued by the
RSS