NASA gears up for Mars mission – two astronauts to remain one-year on the ISS

#NASA #ISS #ScottKelly #MikhailKornienko #Marsmission NASA has identified two astronauts who would remain on the International Space Station ISS continuously for a period of one year in preparation of manned mission to Mars. The two are NASA astronaut Scott Kelly and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko. They are scheduled to launch in March 2015 and would remain on the ISS till March 2016.
This purpose of this mission is to observe how human bodies change throughout the year so that it can be understood how the body is affected by long-term spaceflight. Normally, astronauts remain on the ISS for limited tenures and are rotated every six months – but, this would be a one-year mission and would be undertaken to study long term effects.
This would mark the first time a crew would have spent a continuous year on the space station, and researchers plan to take advantage of it. The scientists and doctors on the ground will be monitoring the way Scott Kelly and Mikhail Kornienko adapts to the ISS environment.
One aspect would be their eyesight - Kornienko and Kelly's eyes will be monitored for any changes to their eyesight.
When they return to Earth, officials will examine them on their ability to perform certain tasks that might be needed once a group arrives on Mars for the first time after a long spaceflight. The probable tasks could be the light construction of a habitat, or moving items around. They could experience a bit of dizziness and other symptoms that could be induced by arriving back in an environment of higher gravity.