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Astronaut Will Return From A Year In Space Both Older <em>And</em> Younger Than His Twin Brother

Astronaut Will Return From Space Both OlderYounger Than His Twin Brother
Jacqueline Howard
By 

Senior Science Editor, The Huffington Post

BAIKONUR, KAZAKHSTAN - MARCH 26: Expedition 43 NASA Astronaut Scott Kelly, left, and his identical twin brother Mark Kelly, pose for a photograph Thursday, March 26, 2015 at the Cosmonaut Hotel in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Scott Kelly, and Russian Cosmonauts Mikhail Kornienko, and Gennady Padalka of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) are scheduled to launch to the International Space Station in the Soyuz TMA-16M spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan March 28, Kazakh time (March 27 Eastern time.) As the one-year crew, Kelly and Kornienko will return to Earth on Soyuz TMA-18M in March 2016. (Photo by Bill Ingalls/NASA via Getty Images)
BAIKONUR, KAZAKHSTAN - MARCH 26: Expedition 43 NASA Astronaut Scott Kelly, left, and his identical twin brother Mark Kelly, pose for a photograph Thursday, March 26, 2015 at the Cosmonaut Hotel in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Scott Kelly, and Russian Cosmonauts Mikhail Kornienko, and Gennady Padalka of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) are scheduled to launch to the International Space Station in the Soyuz TMA-16M spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan March 28, Kazakh time (March 27 Eastern time.) As the one-year crew, Kelly and Kornienko will return to Earth on Soyuz TMA-18M in March 2016. (Photo by Bill Ingalls/NASA via Getty Images)

Today NASA’s Scott Kelly, along with two Russian cosmonauts, blasts off for the International Space Station (ISS), where they plan to spend 342 days. Kelly’s identical twin brother Mark, also a (retired) astronaut, will stay on Earth to serve as the other half of an unprecedented experiment.

Researchers at a host of universities and medical schools will be watching how Scott Kelly’s weightless lifestyle affects him differently from his Earth-bound twin. They’ll study whether it increases his risk of atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), distorts his perception and reasoning, or alters his gut bacteria.

And among other things they’ll look at whether cosmic rays—radiation from deep space—might shorten his lifespan by speeding up damage to his telomeres.

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