A Year in Space

Astronaut Scott Kelly has accomplished a lot during his 51 years, much of it in non-normal environments. Nearly 2.5 years of Kelly’s life has been spent in extreme environments, either as a naval test pilot experiencing high-G’s in super-sonic military aircrafts or working on science experiments in the International Space Station (ISS)’s zero-G environment. As a NASA astronaut with long-duration experience on space shuttles and the ISS, Kelly volunteered and was selected by NASA, in November 2012, to be its member of a planned Year-in-Space mission. As its member of the planned two-person science-based mission, the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) selected veteran cosmonaut Mikhail Korniyenko. Kelly and Korniyenko were launched to the ISS on March 27, 2015, aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Both are scheduled to return to Kazakhstan in Spring 2016 (342 days).



The Kelly-Korniyenko Year-in-Space mission is unique to space travel as it’s the first time long-term science experiments are being dedicated to understanding how the human body reacts and adapts to the harsh environment of space. Kelly’s mission will be the longest continuous term in space for an astronaut, while Korniyenko’s mission will add to six other cosmonauts’ records who spent 10 to 14 months aboard Russia’s (now-defunct) MIR orbiting spacecraft in the 1990s. The Year-in-Space duration is twice as long as a normal six-month tour aboard the ISS for “traditional” astronauts and cosmonauts, and spans ISS Expeditions 43 to 46.

Scott Kelly also has an identical twin, Mark Kelly, who also was an astronaut and a Captain in the U.S. Navy who became a test pilot and piloted four STS missions to the ISS. Scott and Mark are the first siblings to go into space. They each agreed to become the test and control subjects, respectively, for some of the science experiments being conducted during the Year-in-Space mission. Being identical twins, they have the same genetic makeup and offer an excellent methodology and capability to determine what effects living and working in space have on the body’s genetic makeup. “This is a once-in-a-space-program opportunity,” says John Charles, PhD, Associate Manager for International Science, NASA’s Human Research Program (HRP), reflecting on the strong scientific value of having identical twins perform space medicine experiments.

With these criteria, it became an obvious choice this year for the Editors of R&D Magazine to choose Scott Kelly as our 2015 Scientist of the Year—R&D Magazine’s 50th annual Award, recognizing outstanding researchers for their groundbreaking research, and the knowledge they create to enhance the human condition. Scott is both the subject of these year-long science experiments, and the researcher collecting unique data that will influence generations of space travelers in the future—he is literally this year’s scientist of the year.

The science
There already have been and are plans in future expeditions for human research investigations aboard the ISS. All astronauts are medically monitored during pre-flight, in-flight and post-flight phases according to established Medical Evaluation Documents and protocols. The opportunity to collect and compare the effects of spaceflight on the human body over 12 months—rather than typical six-month missions—is the unique capability Year-in-Space offers, especially on twin brothers—test and control subjects—for genetic changes. Much of the data collected will be evaluated for future human travel to Mars. A trip to Mars can vary from six to eight months one-way, depending upon planetary positions, so data is needed for these long-duration voyages.

“For typical ISS science studies, we usually have specific outcomes in mind, and they’re goal-oriented,” says NASA’s Charles. For Kelly’s Year-in-Space mission, “the [experiment] slate was essentially blank.” As such, NASA offered academic, government and private researchers the opportunity to propose research studies that could be performed with the resources offered by Scott and Mark.

“Scott will participate in about 450 experiments while on the Year-in-Space mission,” says Julie Robinson, PhD, ISS Program Scientist. “About 700 to 800 researchers are expected to directly work with the data provided by Scott. Along with the comparative medical science investigations with his brother, the experiments Scott will participate in include Earth studies, astrophysical studies and physical science experiments.”

Robinson also notes there is a huge community of researchers who are working on details for travel to Mars and developing the criteria for building a Martian infrastructure. “The scale of the work being created and collected by Scott is invaluable for these efforts,” she says. The knowledge and lessons learned in space also can have direct carryovers to the development of advanced patient care on Earth.

One of the medical science experiments being conducted during the Year-in-Space examines how body fluids shift to the upper body while in a microgravity environment. It’s known the faces of in-orbit personnel get “puffy,” while their legs lose bone mass and get skinny. Previous studies have noted varying visual deficits experienced by up to two-thirds of the orbiting astronauts and cosmonauts, which on long-duration voyages could be a big concern. For one astronaut, the deterioration was so severe that he couldn’t read the checklist for landing on re-enrty—luckily he had it memorized.

One of the hypotheses being evaluated is the shifting of body fluids to the upper body contributes to increased intracranial pressure and subsequent decreased visual capacity. A potential solution developed by the Russians is the creation of a lower body negative pressure suit. The use and testing of this system, however, required moving NASA testing equipment to the Russian Zvezda service module where the large immovable negative pressure suit system is located—not a small undertaking. And, instead of using invasive techniques to measure intracranial pressures, such as drilling into the skull, NASA developed noninvasive optoacoustic devices for this experiment. This noninvasive device could also be used for patients suffering from elevated intracranical pressure on earth. These Year-in-Space experiments are supported by the Henry Ford Medical Center, UC-San Diego and the Wyle Science, Technology and Engineering Group.

Vision experiments are at the top of NASA’s medical concerns. Scott’s lack of serious vision problems was one of the criteria that resulted in NASA’s final approval for his participation in the Year-in-Space program.

Another experiment being evaluated investigates how microgravity affects an astronaut’s DNA and RNA. Taking blood samples from space-borne Scott and Earth-bound Mark at similar intervals throughout the Year-in-Space, as well as during pre-flight and post-flight periods, researchers can determine if gene expression and behavior changes while in space. The body fluid samples taken by Scott are bagged and frozen aboard the ISS and are scheduled to return with Scott next spring for evaluation by a number of researchers and research organizations. Some of this specific DNA/RNA evaluation work is supported by Weill Cornell Medical College at Cornell Univ.