U.S. astronaut Scott Kelly (C), Russian cosmonauts Gennady Padalka, and Mikhail Korniyenko (top) (Photo : REUTERS/Dmitry Lovetsky/Pool)
An American and two Russian astronauts entered the International Space Station by riding in a Russian Soyuz Space capsule to begin a yearlong stay that will set two records.
The crew consists of NASA's astronaut Scott Kelly, Russian cosmonauts Mikhail Kornienko and Gennady Padalka according to NBC News. Kornienko and Kelly will spend 342 days in the orbiting laboratory, which is twice the duration of a standard mission in the station, while Padalka is going to spend six months in the space station.
The launch took place in Russia's Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Saturday at 3:42 p.m. ET, NASA did a live video coverage of the event. The travel to space is eight hours, the crew caught up with the space station and after executing a docking and then came aboard the space station to join three other space fliers on the orbital outpost, NASA's Terry Virts, Italy's Samantha Cristoforetti and Russia's Anton Shkaplerov.
The new space mission will break two records. First, Kelly will set the record for the United States' longest stay in space, since the Russian cosmonauts have spent 437 days in space. Second, Padalka will set his own record of spending a cumulative total of 900 days in space.
Kelly and Kornienko will undergo intense medical monitoring for studies aimed at determining how ultra-long-term spaceflight affects the human body. They will also be preparing the station for the anticipated 2017 arrival of new U.S. commercial crew capsules according to ABC News. The two men will oversee the comings and goings of numerous cargo ships, as well as other Russian-launched space crews and an expected September visit from singer Sarah Brightman on a space tourist trip. During Kelly and Kornienko's stay in space they will see three crew changeovers until March 2016.
