Astronaut Scott Kelly will retire April 1, he announced late Friday.
Kelly, who just returned from a year in space and who holds the U.S. record for the longest amount of time spent in space, issued a statement about his departure from NASA’s exploration program.
“This year-in-space mission was a profound challenge for all involved, and it gave me a unique perspective and a lot of time to reflect on what my next step should be on our continued journey to help further our capabilities in space and on Earth,” said Kelly, who joined NASA in 1996.
Kelly will remain a NASA employee, submitting medical samples periodically for testing just as his twin brother, former astronaut Mark Kelly, has done since stepping down.
Scott Kelly spent 340 days in orbit to learn how the body holds up in space for long periods of time. His results are being compared with Mark’s.
Kelly visited space four times, including the Discovery trip to NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope in 1999 and commandeering of Expedition 26 in 2010.
“Scott’s contributions to NASA are too many to name,” said Brian Kelly, director of Flight Operations at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. “In his year aboard the space station, he took part in experiments that will have far-reaching effects, helping us pave the way to putting humans on Mars and benefiting life on Earth.”
