Successful liftoff launches NASA’s planned longest-ever manned mission

By Rachel Feltman

Astronauts Scott Kelly and Mikhail Kornienko began their year-long stay in space on Friday as they headed for the International Space Station. NASA will study Kelly's twin brother Mark, who remains on Earth, in order to compare the pair. (NASA)

NASA's Friday launch went off without a hitch. At 3:42 Eastern time, just as scheduled, United States astronaut Scott Kelly left the ground and headed to the International Space Station in a Soyuz rocket. With no delays and all systems working perfectly, NASA's mission control seemed calm and pleased throughout live broadcasting of the launch, which took place at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Along with Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko, Kelly will spend nearly a full year aboard the International Space Station. That's close to the record time spent in space (14 months undertaken in 1994 on the Russian Mir station) and the longest anyone has spent in space since then. It's also going to break the record for the longest time spent on the International Space Station, and Kelly will break NASA's spaceflight length record by about five months.

At the Baikonur Cosmodrome (the world's oldest launch facility), U.S. astronaut Scott Kelly and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko will board a Soyuz rocket and hitch a ride to the International Space Station. Once there, they'll stay for about 340 days. That's the longest anyone has ever stayed at the ISS by nearly five months, and the longest anyone has been in space since 1994, when Valeri Polyakov spent 14 months on the now defunct Mir.

To add to the excitement, Kelly's twin (Mark Kelly, a retired astronaut) has volunteered to spend his year being poked and prodded as much as his space-bound brother will be. Scientists across the country submitted research proposals in hopes of taking advantage of this twin study data, and the 10 selected experiments will examine how spaceflight affects everything from gut bacteria to DNA expression.

Cosmonaut Gennady Padalka also launched with Kornienko and Kelly, though he'll only spend the standard six months aboard ISS before returning to Earth. But Padalka, who's made three trips to ISS and spent time on Russia's now-defunct Mir station, is breaking a record as well: He's spent more than 710 days in space already, and once he finishes his current jaunt, he'll have broken the world record (currently held by Sergei Krikalev with 803 days) for total time spent off the Earth.
Kelly and his crewmates should reach ISS about 9:30 p.m. ET.

Soon we'll be flying a rocket-powered, saucer-shaped test of #LDSD. Learn about it March 31 at noon ET. Details: http://go.nasa.gov/1HdJhgL

Ann Scime Sandner

March 29 at 9:06pm · Unlike · 2

Lou Marconi Btotherg.blogspot.com

But that other guy....

btotherg.blogspot.in|By The Dignified Writer

Lou Marconi ...don't want get all of this spontaneity and research lost in the bowels of Facebook. Will dedicate TUESDAY to MORE POSTINGS!!!

Lou Marconi ...don't want get all of this spontaneity and research lost in the bowels of Facebook. Will dedicate TUESDAY to MORE POSTINGS!!!

Lou Marconi """"flight"""" has always been

Lou Marconi and....

Lou Marconi ...only aliens use saucers; rockets are our m. o. s.

Lou Marconi shared NASA's Kennedy Space Center's photo.

Yesterday at 9:50am ·

NASA's Kennedy Space Center·
In case you missed the coverage of Friday night’s Soyuz TMA-16M spacecraft launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, here’s another view. The Soyuz TMA-16M spacecraft launched to the International Space Station with Expedition 43 NASA astronaut Scott Kelly, Russian cosmonauts Mikhail Kornienko and Gennady Padalka of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) onboard. As the ‪#‎YearInSpace‬ crew, Kelly and Kornienko will return to Earth on Soyuz TMA-18M in March 2016.