1.
International Space Station
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The International Space Station is a space station, or a habitable artificial satellite, in low Earth orbit. Its first component launched into orbit in 1998, and the ISS is now the largest man-made body in space, the ISS consists of pressurised modules, external trusses, solar arrays, and other components. ISS components have been launched by Russian Proton and Soyuz rockets, the ISS serves as a microgravity and space environment research laboratory in which crew members conduct experiments in biology, human biology, physics, astronomy, meteorology, and other fields. The station is suited for the testing of systems and equipment required for missions to the Moon. The ISS maintains an orbit with an altitude of between 330 and 435 km by means of reboost manoeuvres using the engines of the Zvezda module or visiting spacecraft and it completes 15.54 orbits per day. The ISS is the space station to be inhabited by crews, following the Soviet and later Russian Salyut, Almaz. The station has continuously occupied for 16 years and 156 days since the arrival of Expedition 1 on 2 November 2000. This is the longest continuous presence in low Earth orbit. It has been visited by astronauts, cosmonauts and space tourists from 17 different nations, Soyuz has very limited downmass capability. The ISS programme is a joint project among five participating space agencies, NASA, Roscosmos, JAXA, ESA, the ownership and use of the space station is established by intergovernmental treaties and agreements. The station is divided two sections, the Russian Orbital Segment and the United States Orbital Segment, which is shared by many nations. As of January 2014, the American portion of ISS is being funded until 2024, Roscosmos has endorsed the continued operation of ISS through 2024 but has proposed using elements of the Russian Orbital Segment to construct a new Russian space station called OPSEK. On 28 March 2015, Russian sources announced that Roscosmos and NASA had agreed to collaborate on the development of a replacement for the current ISS. NASA later issued a statement expressing thanks for Russias interest in future co-operation in space exploration. According to the original Memorandum of Understanding between NASA and Rosaviakosmos, the International Space Station was intended to be a laboratory, observatory and factory in low Earth orbit. It was also planned to provide transportation, maintenance, and act as a base for possible future missions to the Moon, Mars. In the 2010 United States National Space Policy, the ISS was given roles of serving commercial, diplomatic. The ISS provides a platform to conduct scientific research, the ISS simplifies individual experiments by eliminating the need for separate rocket launches and research staff
2.
Soyuz TMA-18
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Soyuz TMA-18 was a 2010 Soyuz flight to the International Space Station. TMA-18 was the 105th manned flight of a Soyuz spacecraft since the first manned flight in 1967, spacecraft commander Skvortsov occupied the center seat of the Soyuz TMA-18 with Kornienko on his left and Caldwell Dyson on the right. The launch was perfect and the only experienced communications difficulties shortly after launch. The communication problem made it impossible for the Russian mission control officials to communicate with the crew until after they reached the preliminary orbit, however, a live on-board television camera clearly showed the crew was safe. After 9 minutes, the Soyuz spacecraft settled into an orbit of 143 miles by 118 miles. It also deployed antennas and solar arrays for power generation, the spacecraft spent the following two days orbiting the Earth gradually closing in on the ISS. Prior to the systems testing and integration of the rocket. In February 2010 specialists at the RSC-Energia and Yuzhny Space Center tested the Kurs docking support system, autonomous tests of the Soyuz TMA-18 crew vehicle systems were also successfully completed at the Baikonur Cosmodrome and the integrated tests of the rocket commenced at site 254. Filling station was prepared for further tanking of the Soyuz propulsion system by propellant components ad pressurized gases, in early March, containment tests on Soyuz TMA-18 were carried out at the vacuum chamber facility. Specialists from the TSKB-Progress in Samara and Yuzhny Space Center started assembling and testing of the Soyuz-FG rocket, integration of the second stage and pneumatic tests of the first stages units were performed on 16 March. The Soyuz TMA-18 primary and backup crews arrived at the Baikonur Cosmodrome on 21 March and they arrived in two Tu-134 air planes. The Soyuz tanking was completed on 23 March and the spacecraft was returned to site 254, on 31 March the Soyuz FG rocket carrying the Soyuz TMA-18 spacecraft was rolled out from the integration and test facility and was erected at launch pad 1. On 4 April 2010, three ahead of schedule, Soyuz TMA-18 successfully docked to the Poisk module on the ISS at 5,25 UTC. Shortly after the initial contact automatic closing of Soyuz & MRM2 port hooks, as part of docking preparations, earlier attitude control authority had been handed over to the Russian Motion Control System at approximately 3,10 UTC. The control was returned to US CMG control at approximately 6,50 UTC, for the docking, the Russian thrusters were disabled during Soyuz volume pressurization and clamp installation and afterwards returned to active attitude control. Before hatch opening, the crew performed checks of the Soyuz modules. They then removed their Sokol suits, and Kornienko set them, after about 1 hour 45 minutes spent in Soyuz on pre-transfer activities, hatches were opened at 7,21 UTC and the crew transferred to the ISS. A welcome ceremony for the new arrivals followed hatch opening with family members, Skvortsov also installed the quick disconnect clamps of the docking & internal transfer mechanism to firm the joint
3.
Soyuz TMA-19
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Soyuz TMA-19 was a manned spaceflight to the International Space Station and is part of the Soyuz programme. It was launched June 15,2010 carrying three members of the Expedition 24 crew to the International Space Station, who remained aboard the station for six months. TMA-19 was the 106th manned flight of a Soyuz spacecraft, since the first mission which was launched in 1967, the spacecraft remained docked to the space station for the remainder of Expedition 24, and for Expedition 25, to serve as an emergency escape vehicle. It undocked from ISS and landed in Kazakhstan on the November 26,2010 and it was the 100th mission to be conducted as part of the International Space Station programme since assembly began in 1998. The Soyuz TMA-19 crew was confirmed by NASA on November 21,2008, the mission Commander is Fyodor Yurchikhin of the Russian Federal Space Agency, who is making his third spaceflight. The other two members are Shannon Walker and Douglas H. Wheelock of the United States National Aeronautics. TMA-19 is Wheelocks second spaceflight, and Walkers first, Soyuz TMA-19 was launched by a Soyuz-FG carrier rocket flying from Site 1/5 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The launch occurred successfully on June 15,2010, with the rocket lifting off at 21,35 UTC, after its separation from the last stage of the Soyuz-FG rocket, Moscow Mission Control Center began controlling the Soyuz TMA-19 spacecraft. Nine minutes into the ascent, the spacecraft settled into an orbit of 200.16 by 259.16 km with the inclination 51.62 degrees toward the Equator. The Soyuz spacecraft successfully deployed the solar arrays for power generation, telemetry data received from the Soyuz confirmed that the spacecraft was performing nominally. Prior to launch, assembly of the rocket and spacecraft had been underway for several months, the Soyuz-FG rocket arrived at Baikonur on March 11,2010, along with a Soyuz-U which was slated to launch Progress M-06M. The spacecraft itself was shipped from Korolyov on April 16,2010, upon delivery, the spacecraft was moved to Site 254. On June 11,2010, final inspections of the spacecraft were conducted, the next day, the upper composite was integrated with the upper stage of the rocket that was to launch it, and subsequently the launch escape system. This assembly work took place at Site 112 of the Baikonur Cosmodrome, once this was complete, the upper stage was attached to the remainder of the rocket in the MIK. A State Commission met of June 12 to approve rollout, which was authorised, rollout to the launch pad began at 01,00 UTC on June 13,2010, with the rocket departing the MIK propelled by a locomotive. Rollout lasted around two hours, with the rocket travelling 2 kilometres from the MIK to the launch pad, the winner and runner-up in the patch design competition were present to observe the rollout. Rollout operations were completed by 05,00 UTC, when the rocket was erected on the launch pad, Soyuz TMA-19 docked with the International Space Station on June 17 2010at 22,25 UTC. It docked with the aft port of the Zvezda module, ahead of docking, the ISS handed over attitude control to the Russian Orbital Segment at 19,00 UTC, and at 19,17 maneuvered to provide an optimum attitude for docking
4.
Fyodor Yurchikhin
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Fyodor Nikolayevich Yurchikhin, is a Russian cosmonaut of Greek descent, engineer and RSC Energia test-pilot who has flown on four spaceflights. His first spaceflight was a 10-day Space Shuttle mission STS-112 and his second was a long-duration stay aboard the International Space Station as a Flight Engineer for Expedition 15, for this mission he was launched in the Soyuz TMA-10 spacecraft. He has undertaken two further long-duration stays aboard the ISS, as a member of Expedition 24 /25. For this mission he was launched with the spacecraft Soyuz TMA-19 and he served as Soyuz Commander for his fourth mission aboard Soyuz TMA-09M, as Flight Engineer for Expedition 36 and ISS Commander for Expedition 37. Yurchikhin was born in Batumi, Adjar ASSR, Georgian SSR on 3 January 1959 to Pontic Greek parents Nikolai Fyodorovich Yurchikhin, Yurchikhin is married to Larisa Anatolievna Yurchikhina and has two daughters. His hobbies include collecting stamps and space logos, sports, history of cosmonautics and he also enjoys reading history, science fiction and the classics. After graduation from school in Batumi in 1976, he entered the Moscow Aviation Institute named after Sergey Ordzhonikidze. He finished studying in 1983, and is qualified as a mechanical engineer, in 2001, he graduated from the Moscow Service State University with a Ph. D. in economics. Yurchikhin was one of five cosmonauts selected to raise the Russian flag at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics opening ceremony, after graduating from the S. Ordzhonikidze Moscow Aviation Institute, Yurchikhin worked at the Russian Space Corporation Energia from September 1983 until August 1997. In August 1997, he was enrolled in the RSC Energia cosmonaut detachment as a cosmonaut-candidate, from January 1998 to November 1999, he completed his basic training course. In November 1999, he was qualified as a test cosmonaut, in January 2000, he started training in the test-cosmonaut group for the International Space Station program. Yurchikhin was a crewmember of the International Space Station assembly mission STS-112 conducted using Space Shuttle Atlantis, during the mission the shuttle crew conducted joint operations with the Expedition 5 by delivering and installing the S1 Truss. Three spacewalks were required to outfit and activate the new component, the crew also transferred cargo between the two vehicles and used the shuttles thruster jets during two maneuvers to raise the stations orbit. STS-112 was the first shuttle mission to use a camera on the External Tank, providing a view of the launch to flight controllers. The STS-112 mission was accomplished in 170 orbits, traveling 4.5 million miles in 10 days,19 hours, in 2007, he became a member of the Expedition 15 on the ISS. His flight began on April 7, when he launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, aboard Soyuz TMA-10 spacecraft, together with Oleg Kotov, Yurchikhin was aboard when Simonyi gave a live telebridge conversation on Tuesday, April 17,2007. He served as the commander of the Expedition 15 mission, on October 21, he returned to Earth inside the Soyuz TMA-10 capsule after spending 196 days and 17 hours in space. The TMA-10 spacecraft undocked from the ISS at 07,14 UTC on October 21, during atmospheric re-entry, the spacecraft transitioned to a ballistic reentry, resulting in it landing west of Arkalyk, approximately 340 km northwest of the intended Kazakhstan landing site
5.
Douglas H. Wheelock
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Douglas Harry Wheels Wheelock is an American engineer and astronaut. He has flown in space twice, logging 178 days on the Space Shuttle, International Space Station, on July 12,2011, Wheelock announced that he would be returning to active duty with the United States Army in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Douglas Wheelock was born in Binghamton, New York to Olin, in a pre-flight interview, Wheelock stated that he was inspired to become an astronaut at an early age. He also stated that a turning point in his life was the Apollo 11 moon landing in July 1969. In 1978 Wheelock graduated from Windsor Central High School in Windsor and he earned a Master of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology in 1992. Wheelock spent four years as a cadet at West Point, graduating in the class of 1983 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Science, after graduation he was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the U. S. Armys Infantry Branch and entered flight school the next year. In September 1984, then Lieutenant Wheelock graduated at the top of his class and was designated an Army Aviator. He was later assigned to the Aviation Directorate of Combat Developments as an Advanced Weapons Research and Development Engineer. Wheelock was selected as a member of Class 104 at the U. S. Naval Test Pilot School and his flight testing was focused in the areas of tactical reconnaissance and surveillance systems in the OH-58D, UH-60, RU-21 and C-23 aircraft. He served as Division Chief for fixed-wing testing of airborne signal and imagery intelligence systems in support of the National Program Office for Intelligence, while on active duty, Wheelock received a Master of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from Georgia Tech in 1992. In August 1996 Wheelock was assigned to the Johnson Space Center as a Space Shuttle integration test engineer and his technical duties involved engineering liaison for launch and landing operations of the Space Shuttle. S. Army Command and General Staff College, in July 2011, Wheelock left for a tour of duty in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. He is scheduled to return in fall 2011, a dual-rated Master Army Aviator Astronaut, he has logged over 2,500 flight hours in 43 different rotary and fixed-wing aircraft. In August 1998 Wheelock reported for NASA Astronaut Candidate Training and he worked extensively with the Energia Aerospace Company in Moscow, Russia, developing and verifying dual-language procedures for ISS crews. Wheelock led joint U. S. /Russian teams to the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to oversee bench reviews, inventory, loading and launch of the first four unmanned ISS resupply capsules. He was the contact for all crew needs, coordination, planning and interactions. In August 2002, Wheelock was assigned as a Spacecraft Communicator in the Mission Control Center in Houston, in this role, he was the primary communication link between crews on orbit and the ground support team in the Control Center. His work as a CAPCOM culminated in his assignment as the lead CAPCOM for the ISS Expedition 8 mission, in July 2004, Wheelock served as an aquanaut during the NEEMO6 mission aboard the Aquarius underwater laboratory, living and working underwater for ten days
6.
Expedition 25
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Expedition 25 was the 25th long-duration mission to the International Space Station. Expedition 25 began with the Soyuz TMA-18 undocking on 25 September 2010, three new crewmembers arrived aboard the ISS October 2010 on Soyuz TMA-01M to join Douglas Wheelock, Fyodor Yurchikhin and Shannon Walker, and formed the full six member crew of Expedition 25. NASA astronaut Doug Wheelock accepted command of Expedition 25 on 22 September 2010, the departure of Wheelock, Walker and Yurchikhin on 25 November 2010 marked the official end of Expedition 25. During Expedition 25 Progress M-08M spacecraft visited the ISS, docking with the station on 30 October 2010 bringing 2.5 tons of cargo supplies. Space shuttle Discovery on STS-133 mission was scheduled to arrive at the ISS on 3 November 2010 but was rescheduled for launch on 3 February 2011, the 10th anniversary of human life, work and research on the ISS fell during Expedition 25. On 2 November 2000, Expedition 1 Commander William Shepherd and Flight Engineers Sergei Krikalev, Expedition 25 ended on 26 November. Source NASA Andrei Borisenko - Commander Paolo Nespoli Catherine Coleman Anatoli Ivanishin Sergei Revin Ronald J. Garan, the Soyuz TMA-01M spacecraft was mated to its booster in a processing facility for its rollout to the launch pad in Baikonur 5 October 2010. The Soyuz TMA-01M spacecraft and booster rocket were moved to Launch Complex 5 at Baikonur Cosmodrome on a rail-car 5 October 2010 for final preparations prior to launch, Russian Federal Space Agency revealed that during Expedition 25 and 26,504 sessions of 41 experiments are planned to be implemented. The new experiments include, Molniya-Gamma, Sprut-2, UHF-radiometry, SLS, VIRU, Test, Progress M-08M spacecraft delivered about 2.5 tons of cargo supplies including water, air, fuel and hardware for the Russian Molniya-Gamma and Coulomb Crystal experiments to the station. The Soyuz-U carrier rocket with Progress M-08M, identified by NASA as Progress 40 or 40P, was launched from the Baikonurs Gagarins launch pad at 15,11,50 UTC on 27 October 2010. After three days of flight, at 16,36 UTC on 30 October 2010 Progress M-08M docked with the Pirs module nadir port. A problem during Progress approach to the station forced cosmonauts on the station to intervene. The switch to manual mode was decided at range of 194 m, kaleri worked inside the space stations Zvezda module to fly Progress M-08M remotely using television views and a pair of joysticks and guided it to the successful docking. ‡ denotes spacewalks performed from the Pirs docking compartment in Russian Orlan suits and this article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASAs Space Station Expeditions page Expedition 25 photography
7.
Roscosmos
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The Roscosmos State Corporation for Space Activities, commonly known as Roscosmos, is the governmental body responsible for the space science program of Russia and general aerospace research. The Corporation was established on the basis of the now-defunct Federal Space Agency on December 28,2015, Roscosmos was previously known as the Russian Aviation and Space Agency. The headquarters of Roscosmos are located in Moscow, while the main Mission Control space center is located in the city of Korolev. The Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center is in Star City, the Launch facilities used are Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, and Vostochny Cosmodrome being built in the Russian Far East in Amur Oblast. The current Director since January 2015 is Igor Komarov, in 2015 the Russian government merged Roscosmos with the United Rocket and Space Corporation, the re-nationalized Russian space industry, to create the Roscosmos State Corporation. The Soviet space program did not have central executive agencies, instead, its organizational architecture was multi-centered, it was the design bureaus and the council of designers that had the most say, not the political leadership. The creation of a central agency after the separation of Russia from the Soviet Union was therefore a new development, Russian Space Agency was formed on February 25,1992, by a decree of President Yeltsin. Yuri Koptev, who had worked with designing Mars landers at NPO Lavochkin. In the early years, the agency suffered from lack of authority as the design bureaus fought to protect their own spheres of operation. For example, the decision to keep Mir in operation beyond 1999 was not taken by the agency, instead, another example is that the decision to develop the new Angara rocket was rather a function of Khrunichevs ability to attract resources than a conscious long-term decision by the agency. The 1990s saw serious financial problems because of decreased cash flow and this resulted in Roscosmos leading role in commercial satellite launches and space tourism. In March 2004, director Yuri Koptev was replaced by Anatoly Perminov, the Russian economy boomed throughout 2005 from high prices for exports, such as oil and gas, the outlook for future funding in 2006 appeared more favorable. The budget for 2006 was as high as 25 billion rubles, under the current 10-year budget approved, the budget of the Space Agency shall increase 5–10% per year, providing the space agency with a constant influx of money. In addition to the budget, Roscosmos plans to have over 130 billion rubles flowing into its budget by other means, such as industry investments and it is around the time US-based The Planetary Society entered a partnership with Roscosmos. In 2011, the government spent 115 billion rubles in the space programs. The proposed project core budget for 2013 to be around 128.3 billion rubles, the budget for the whole space program is,169.8 billion rubles. By 2015, the amount of the budget can be increased to 199.2 billion rubles, priorities of the Russian space program include the new Angara rocket family and development of new communications, navigation and remote Earth sensing spacecraft. The GLONASS global navigation system has for many years been one of the top priorities and has been given its own budget line in the federal space budget
8.
NASA
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President Dwight D. Eisenhower established NASA in 1958 with a distinctly civilian orientation encouraging peaceful applications in space science. The National Aeronautics and Space Act was passed on July 29,1958, disestablishing NASAs predecessor, the new agency became operational on October 1,1958. Since that time, most US space exploration efforts have led by NASA, including the Apollo Moon landing missions, the Skylab space station. Currently, NASA is supporting the International Space Station and is overseeing the development of the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, the agency is also responsible for the Launch Services Program which provides oversight of launch operations and countdown management for unmanned NASA launches. NASA shares data with various national and international such as from the Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite. Since 2011, NASA has been criticized for low cost efficiency, from 1946, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics had been experimenting with rocket planes such as the supersonic Bell X-1. In the early 1950s, there was challenge to launch a satellite for the International Geophysical Year. An effort for this was the American Project Vanguard, after the Soviet launch of the worlds first artificial satellite on October 4,1957, the attention of the United States turned toward its own fledgling space efforts. This led to an agreement that a new federal agency based on NACA was needed to conduct all non-military activity in space. The Advanced Research Projects Agency was created in February 1958 to develop technology for military application. On July 29,1958, Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act, a NASA seal was approved by President Eisenhower in 1959. Elements of the Army Ballistic Missile Agency and the United States Naval Research Laboratory were incorporated into NASA, earlier research efforts within the US Air Force and many of ARPAs early space programs were also transferred to NASA. In December 1958, NASA gained control of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA has conducted many manned and unmanned spaceflight programs throughout its history. Some missions include both manned and unmanned aspects, such as the Galileo probe, which was deployed by astronauts in Earth orbit before being sent unmanned to Jupiter, the experimental rocket-powered aircraft programs started by NACA were extended by NASA as support for manned spaceflight. This was followed by a space capsule program, and in turn by a two-man capsule program. This goal was met in 1969 by the Apollo program, however, reduction of the perceived threat and changing political priorities almost immediately caused the termination of most of these plans. NASA turned its attention to an Apollo-derived temporary space laboratory, to date, NASA has launched a total of 166 manned space missions on rockets, and thirteen X-15 rocket flights above the USAF definition of spaceflight altitude,260,000 feet. The X-15 was an NACA experimental rocket-powered hypersonic research aircraft, developed in conjunction with the US Air Force, the design featured a slender fuselage with fairings along the side containing fuel and early computerized control systems
9.
Mikhail Tyurin
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Mikhail Vladislavovich Tyurin is a Russian cosmonaut. Michael Tyurin lives in Korolev, a city outside Moscow. He was born March 2,1960, in Kolomna, Russia where his parents still reside and he is married to Tatiana Anatoleyvna Tyurina. They have a daughter, Alexandra, born in 1982 and he enjoys sailing in his free time. He graduated from the Moscow Aviation Institute in 1984 with a degree in engineering and he is currently doing graduate work in his field of research. After graduating from the Aviation Institute he began working at the Energia corporation as an engineer, the main subjects of his job have been dynamics, ballistics, and software development. His personal scientific research is connected with the aspects of cosmonauts training for the manual control of spacecraft motion. Tyurin was awarded the Hero of the Russian Federation medal, in 1994 he was selected to begin cosmonaut training, and in 1998 he started training as a flight engineer for the Expedition 3 crew. He also served as a crew member for the first ISS mission. Tyurin lived and worked aboard the International Space Station as part of the Expedition 3 crew, Space Shuttle Discovery carrying Tyurin and six other crewmembers on STS-105 mission blasted off to space from the Kennedy Space Center on August 10,2001. The shuttle docked with the ISS on 12 August at 18,41 UTC, Tyurin spent approximately 4 months aboard the station as Flight Engineer 1. During the long duration mission The Expedition 3 crew enjoyed a view of the 2001 Leonid meteor storm. At the end of the stay Expedition 3 crewmembers, NASA astronaut Frank Culbertson, Tyurin, endeavours STS-108 mission delivered the Expedition 4 crew to the ISS and landed at KSC on December 17,2001. The spacecraft docked with the ISS on September 20 at 05,21 UTC following two days of autonomous flight. Tyurin served as the Soyuz commander, and after docking with the ISS they exchanged with the resident crew on board ISS and became the station crew. Tyurin spent 215 days aboard the International Space Station as a Flight Engineer, the Soyuz TMA-9 capsule carrying Tyurin, Lopez-Alegria and spaceflight participant Charles Simonyi landed southwest of Karaganda, Kazakhstan on 21 April 200712,30 UTC. Tyurin was commander of flight Soyuz TMA-11M, which docked with the ISS on November 7,2013, the Soyuz TMA-11M crew carried a torch for the 2014 Sochi Olympics. Once at the ISS, Tyurin, Mastracchio and Wakata met Fyodor Yurchikhin, Karen Nyberg, Luca Parmitano, Oleg Kotov, Sergey Ryazansky, Michael Hopkins
10.
Scott Kelly (astronaut)
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Scott Joseph Kelly is an engineer, retired American astronaut, and a retired U. S. Navy Captain. A veteran of four flights, Kelly commanded the International Space Station on Expeditions 26,45. Kellys first spaceflight was as pilot of Space Shuttle Discovery, during STS-103 in December 1999 and this was the third servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope, and lasted for just under eight days. Kellys second spaceflight was as commander of STS-118, a 12-day Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station in August 2007. Kellys third spaceflight was as commander of Expedition 26 on the ISS and he arrived 9 October 2010, on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft, during Expedition 25, and served as a flight engineer until it ended. Expedition 26 ended on 16 March 2011 with the departure of Soyuz TMA-01M and this was Kellys first long-duration spaceflight. In November 2012, Kelly was selected, along with Mikhail Korniyenko and their year in space commenced 27 March 2015 with the start of Expedition 43, continued through the entirety of Expeditions 44, and 45, both of which Kelly commanded. He passed command to Timothy Kopra on 29 February 2016, when the ISS year long mission ended and he returned to Earth aboard Soyuz TMA-18M on 1 March 2016. In October 2015, he set the record for the accumulated number of days spent in space by an American astronaut,520. This record was broken in 2016 by astronaut Jeff Williams, for the ISS year long mission, Kelly spent 340 consecutive days in space. Kellys identical twin brother, Mark Kelly, is a former astronaut, the Kelly brothers are the only siblings to have traveled in space. On March 12,2016, Kelly announced his retirement for April 2016, Scott Kelly received his commission via the Navy Reserve Officer Training Corps following graduation from the State University of New York Maritime College in May 1987. He was designated a Naval Aviator in July 1989 at Naval Air Station Chase Field in Beeville and he reported to Fighter Squadron 101 at Naval Air Station Oceana, Virginia, for initial F-14 Tomcat training. Scott Kelly was selected to attend the U. S. Naval Test Pilot School at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland in January 1993 and completed training in June 1994. After graduation, he worked as a test pilot at the Strike Aircraft Test Squadron, Naval Air Warfare Center, Aircraft Division, at Patuxent River, flying the F-14A/B/D, F/A-18A/B/C/D and KC-130F. Kelly was the first pilot to fly an F-14 with a digital flight control system installed and performed subsequent high angle of attack. He has logged more than 8,000 flight-hours in more than 40 different aircraft and spacecraft, Kelly has more than 250 carrier landings. Selected by NASA in April 1996, Kelly reported to the Johnson Space Center in August 1996, on completion of training, he was assigned to technical duties in the Astronaut Office Spacecraft Systems/Operations Branch
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
