MISSION COMPLETED

NASA’s Kelly Back From Record Year Trip

Lands with Russians after 340 days in space.

NASA astronaut Scott Kelly and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko returned to earth on Wednesday after a 340-day mission aboard the International Space Station. The tour marked the longest trip by a NASA astronaut and was considered twice the length of a normal stay. Their extended trip was part of an effort to examine the effects of long-duration spaceflight on the body. Scientists will now compare Kelly with his earthbound identical twin, Mark, who is now a retired astronaut. A Soyuz capsule carrying Kelly, Kornienko, and Russian crew member Sergey Volkov parachuted down on to the steppe of Kazakhstan at 11:26 p.m. ET. Kelly, who now has completed a total of 520 days in space over four flights, will be flown to NASA headquarters in Houston to begin a series of tests.