BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan — American astronaut Scott Kelly and his Russian counterpart Mikhail Kornienko blasted off early Saturday on a mission to spend an entire year away from the Earth.
The trip is NASA’s first attempt at a one-year spaceflight, anticipating Mars expeditions that would last two to three years.
Cosmonaut Gennady Padalka of Russia was also aboard their Soyuz capsule. He is scheduled for the standard six-month tour of duty.
Kelly’s identical twin, Mark, a retired astronaut, agreed to take part in many of the same medical experiments as his orbiting sibling to help scientists see how a body in space compares with its genetic double on Earth.
Kelly and Kornienko will remain onboard until next March. They will undergo extensive medical experiments and prepare the station for the anticipated 2017 arrival of new U.S. commercial-crew capsules.
