A Year in Space

Astronaut Scott Kelly recently completed his almost one year mission in space, the longest amount of time for a human being to be exposed to microgravity. Most students’ experience and interest in this field begins and ends with the rocket launches in various science classes, but others enjoy looking into events that happen on a larger scale.

The point of the mission was to learn how humans react to microgravity, and research how to prepare people for longer space missions. Scott and his twin brother Mark (who remained on solid ground as a control group) were monitored over the past year, and will continue to be researched for the next three years. If that doesn’t sound appealing,  keep in mind that Scott was able to grow two inches over the year as his spine expanded in the lessened gravity.

Our local twins, Jomain and Avery Rouser, are a few who would be greatly affected by that two-inch change in height. When asked if he would mind his twin growing two inches taller than him, Jomain Rouser replied, “I would hate it, because I’m barely taller than him now and I make fun of him all the time for it.”

Avery Rouser later mentioned that his fear of heights would prevent him from going to space in the first place, while Jomain said that he would enjoy the experience.

Besides the height difference that affected Scott and his brother, many other interesting things occurred during Scott’s 340 days in space. He was witness to approximately 10,944 sunrises and sunsets. He also participated in 700 or more hours of mandatory exercise, to keep his bones’ ability to support his body once he returned to Earth. Kelly produced more than 180 pounds of solid waste, which was burned up in the Earth’s atmosphere right above our heads.

According to Scott in an interview, he would always consider going back into space, without question. Would you?