NASA Record Holder Scott Kelly for Single Mission and Cumulative Time

Summary: NASA record holder Scott Kelly returns to Earth Tuesday, March 1, as NASA's record-setting astronaut for most single mission and most cumulative time.

Space yearlings Scott Kelly and Mikhail "Misha" Kornienko are back on Earth: NASA TV, Public Domain, via NASA

NASA record holder Scott Kelly returns to Earth as the NASA astronaut setting space-duration records for most time on a single mission, with 340 days just logged for NASA’s Year in Space, and for most cumulative time, with 520 days tallied from his four-mission career.

The Year in Space Mission for NASA record holder Scott Kelly begins Friday, March 27, 2015, and ends Tuesday, March 1, 2016, 340 days later. Russian cosmonaut Mikhail “Misha” Kornienko partners with Kelly in NASA’s Year in Space Mission. The mission aims to study the psychological and physiological effects of long-term space habitation on astronauts. Mission data provides valuable insights for NASA’s near-future endurance endeavors, such as manned spacecraft journeys to an asteroid by 2025 and to Mars in the 2030s.

On Friday, Oct. 16, 2015, the 203rd day of the Year in Space Mission, NASA record holder Scott Kelly sets his first NASA record for cumulative time in space. Kelly’s 383rd cumulative day in space surpasses the previous NASA record of 382 cumulative days held by Pennsylvania astronaut Edward Michael “Mike” Fincke since Wednesday, June 1, 2011.

NASA record holder Scott Kelly tweets his record-breaking achievement in his trademark team-member style: “Records are meant to be broken. Look fwd to one of my colleagues surpassing my end 500+ days on our #JourneyToMars!”

Misha Kornienko, NASA record holder Scott Kelly’s Russian counterpart on the Year in Space Program aboard the International Space Station, cannot claim Russian/Soviet records for most space time on a single mission or for cumulative missions. Space yearling Kornienko’s 340-day Year in Space Mission combines with his first space mission in 2010 to yield a two-mission career cumulative total of 516 days.

The single mission records that top space yearlings Kelly and Kornienko’s 340 days are all held by Russian cosmonauts onboard Mir, the International Space Station’s predecessor. Soviet cosmonaut Valery Polyakov holds the Russian and world record for longest single space mission. From Jan. 8, 1994 to March 22, 1995, Polyakov logs 437 days, 17 hours and 58 minutes. From Aug. 13, 1998 to Aug. 28, 1999, Sergei Avdeyev logs the second highest single mission time with 379 days, 14 hours, 51 minutes and 9 seconds. From Dec. 21, 1987 to Dec. 21, 1988, Vladimir Titov and Musa Manarov each log 365 days, 22 hours, 39 minutes and 47 seconds.

The record for cumulative time in space is held by still active Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka. His five-mission career yields a cumulative time of 878 days, 11 hours and 31 minutes. While commanding the International Space Station’s Expedition 44, Padalka breaks the previous Russian and world record for cumulative time of 803 days, nine hours and 39 minutes held by six-mission Russian cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev since Oct. 10, 2005. At 1:42 a.m. Moscow Time Monday, June 29, 2015, Padalka logs 803 days, nine hours and 41 minutes. Padalka achieves his world record 10 weeks later, with his Sept. 11 departure from the station and return to Earth.

On March 27, 2015, Kelly, Kornienko and Padalka journey together in the Soyuz TMA-16M to join the International Space Station’s Expedition 43.

“I hope this flight will take the figure to 878 days,” Gennady Padalka says Thursday, March 26, at a preflight press briefing. “But I am not going to stop at that -- I hope to reach 1,000 days in orbit on my following flight.”

NASA record holder Scott Kelly might add to his record-shattering milestones through future space missions.

“I could go another 100 days,” NASA record holder Scott Kelly says Thursday, Feb. 25, in his last, in-orbit news conference at the International Space Station. “I could go another year if I had to. It would just depend on what I was doing and if it made sense -- although I do look forward to getting home here next week.”

Scott Kelly's first sunset after a safe landing in Kazakhstan Tuesday, March 1,at 11:26 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (10:26 a.m. March 2 Kazakhstan time): Scott Kelly @StationCDRKelly via Twitter March 2, 2016

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Scott Kelly and Misha Kornienko, March 1, 2016: NASA TV, Public Domain, via NASA @ http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-astronaut-scott-kelly-returns-safely-to-earth-after-one-year-mission

Scott Kelly's first sunset after a safe landing in Kazakhstan Tuesday, March 1,at 11:26 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (10:26 a.m. March 2 Kazakhstan time): Scott Kelly @StationCDRKelly via Twitter March 2, 2016. @ https://twitter.com/StationCDRKelly/status/705076364756398080

"Back to #Earth last night. Today I head back home! Stretching my space legs on my first refuel stop. #YearInSpace": Scott Kelly @StationCDRKelly via Twitter March 2, 2016, @ https://twitter.com/StationCDRKelly/status/705079433955188740

For further information:

Hobson, Rachel. "Ten Things to Know About Scott Kelly's #YearInSpace." NASA > Missions > International Space Station > Research > News > One-Year Crew. Feb. 23, 2016. Updated Feb. 29, 2016.
Available @ http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/news/top_ten_1YM

Scott Kelly @StationCDRKelly. "Back to #Earth last night. Today I head back home! Stretching my space legs on my first refuel stop. #YearInSpace." Twitter. March 2, 2016.
Available @ https://twitter.com/StationCDRKelly/status/705079433955188740

Scott Kelly @StationCDRKelly. "My first #sunset on #Earth in #Norway on my way home! #YearInSpace." Twitter. March 2, 2016.
Available @ https://twitter.com/StationCDRKelly/status/705076364756398080