NASA, Russia Choose Astronaut, Cosmonaut for Year Long Space Mission

According to RIANovosti, the Russian Space Agency and NASA have chosen a Russian cosmonaut and an American astronaut respectively to embark on a year-long mission on board the International Space Station in 2015.

Year-long ISS mission to simulate Mars mission

According to an October, 2012 story in SpaceRef, Russia, the United States, and the other partners on the International Space Station had come to an agreement to fly a Russian cosmonaut and an American astronaut on the ISS for a year. The purpose was to gather medical information about the long term effects of microgravity "--on bone density, muscle mass, strength, vision and other aspects of human physiology." The research would help scientists develop countermeasures for those effects when space explorers take months-long voyages into deep space, to Earth approaching asteroids and eventually to Mars.

Two veteran space explorers chosen

The RIANovosti story reports that two veteran space explorers were chosen for the year-long stay on the ISS. They are Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Korniyenko and NASA astronaut Scott Kelly.

Scott Kelly a NASA veteran space traveler

According to his official NASA biography, Scott Kelly was a naval aviator and military test pilot with a Masters degree in aviation systems and experience in flying both the F 18 and the F 14. He first flew in space as the pilot of STS-103, a Hubble Space Telescope refurbishing mission, in December, 1999. He was the commander of STS-118, which flew to the International Space Station in August, 2007, which added a truss segment and other parts to the orbiting laboratory. Finally, Kelly was commander of the ISS as part of Expedition 25 between November, 2010 and March, 2011. Kelly's twin brother is recently retired NASA astronaut Mark Kelly, the husband of former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was obliged to retire from Congress after being shot by a deranged gun man.

Mikhail Korniyenko an experienced Russian cosmonaut

Korniyenko, a veteran of the Soviet Army, is a graduate of the Moscow Aviation Institute, according to his biography published by Energia. He was selected as a cosmonaut candidate in 1998 and passed training to become a full cosmonaut in 1999. He served in the backup crews for two expeditions to the ISS. The RIANovosti story notes that he flew for 178 days on board the International Space Station in 2010.

Record for longest space flight held by Valery Polyakov

The RIANovosti story mentions that the record for the longest consecutive space flight is held by Valery Polyakov, a Russian cosmonaut who stayed on board the Russian space station Mir for over 437 days in the late 1990s.

Mark R. Whittington is the author of Children of Apollo and The Last Moonwalker. He has written on space subjects for a variety of periodicals, including The Houston Chronicle, The Washington Post, USA Today, the L.A. Times, and The Weekly Standard.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nasa-russia-choose-astronaut-cosmonaut-long-space-mission-212300931.html

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