Next week, NASA astronaut Scott Kelly will head back to Earth on a Russian Soyuz capsule, completing 340 days aboard the International Space Station. Kelly and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Korniyenko have both spent nearly a year on the ISS to help researchers better understand how long-term spaceflight affects the human body. NASA wants to know how people will fare in microgravity environments for long periods of time, since any future crewed trips to Mars will take upwards of several months.
We'll know a lot more about Kelly's health when he gets back home. But in the meantime, the ISS commander is enjoying his last few days in space. Today, NASA posted an interview with Kelly from a month ago, in which the astronaut discussed the past year and if he felt like his time in lower Earth orbit had been a success. He said he felt like the mission had gone well, though he said there were a few personal things he didn't accomplish. Kelly also noted the bittersweet feeling of returning home. "I'm not climbing the walls to get out of here, though I do look forward to returning to Earth for many reasons," said Kelly.
However, Kelly did have some parting words for future astronauts who might want to spend a year away from Earth's surface. "The advice I would give to future folks is: put a lot of thought into it, because a year here is a really, really long time," said Kelly.
Watch the rest of interview in the video above, and check back here next week for more coverage of Kelly's return to Earth.
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