NASA’s Scott Kelly and cosmonaut Mikhail Korienko successfully land back on Earth
NASA astronaut Scott Kelly and Russian Cosmonaut completed a successful landing back on Earth following their departure from the International Space Station (ISS) where they had just spent almost a year on board.
The duo – who were accompanied by Sergey Volkov, also of the Russian space agency, who had been on the ISS for a significantly shorter period of time – landed in Kazakhstan at 10.26 local time (04.26 GMT).
Dr Kelly was seen punching the air in celebration following the successful landing.
All three have been taken for medical testing – as is standard – and will soon be reunited with their friends and families.
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said: “Scott Kelly’s one-year mission aboard the International Space Station has helped to advance deep space exploration and America’s Journey to Mars.
“Scott has become the first American astronaut to spend a year in space, and in so doing, helped us take one giant leap toward putting boots on Mars.”
Over four flights, Kelly has now spent a total of 520 days in space.
This time around, Kelly and Kornienko were on board the ISS for 25 days short of a full calendar year as a part of an experiment to see the effects of spending a long time in space on the body.
Just before his departure, Dr Kelly said: "I could go another 100 days, I could go another year if I had to, it would just depend on what I was doing and whether it made sense.
"Physically I feel pretty good... but the hardest part is being isolated in the physical sense from people on the ground who are important to you.
"There's a loss of connection.
ISS crew returns to Earth after year in space
"Even after being here for a year, you don't feel perfectly normal.
"Having no running water is kind of like being in the woods camping for a year in terms of hygiene."