The "Year in Space" mission is officially less than a week from concluding, as its participants - NASA astronaut Scott Kelly and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko - are scheduled to return to Earth on March 1.
NASA TV will air various events associated with the return flight live online. Before the departure from the International Space Station, there will be a "change of command" on Monday, Feb. 29. The crewmembers are scheduled to land in Kazakhstan on March 2 at 10:27 a.m. local time (11:27 p.m. ET, U.S. time).
"I could go another year if I had to," ABC News quoted Kelly saying during the final news conference of the mission Thursday afternoon. "It would just depend on what I was doing and if it made sense.
"It's somewhat of a harsh environment.
"You don't feel perfectly normal. There is always a lingering something you feel or it's just not normal... Having said that, it's not necessarily uncomfortable."
During the past year, NASA has been studying Mark Kelly, a retired astronaut and Scott's twin brother. The results will be used to compare living in space long-term to life on Earth as we know it.
The Year in Space mission adds to Kelly's accomplished career as an astronaut and ISS crewmember. You can head over to NBC News for a compilation of some his best photos from the past year.
