After spending nearly a year aboard the International Space Station – conducting a host of biomedical and psychological research on the impacts of long-duration spaceflight on the human body – NASA’s Scott Kelly and Mikhail Kornienko of the Russian space agency Roscosmos wrapped up their historic mission on March 1 – with a safe parachute landing in Kazakhstan . Just over a day, later – at Houston’s Ellington Field, near Johnson Space Center, a host of family, colleagues and VIPs welcomed Kelly back to the United States, including Second Lady of the United States Dr. Jill Biden, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology Dr. John P. Holdren, and NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. There were cheers, embraces and expressions of appreciation for his efforts to help advance deep space exploration and America’s Journey to Mars. Also, Next ISS crew heads to launch site, “Low boom” aircraft, Orion Service Module’s solar array wing deployment and more.

TRANSCRIPT

The One-Year Crew returns

(Scott Kelly, Expedition 46 Commander)

“I want to thank everyone on the ground first. Team work makes the dream work in spaceflight.”

After spending nearly a year aboard the International Space Station — conducting a host of biomedical and psychological research on the impacts of long-duration spaceflight on the human body, NASA’s Scott Kelly and Mikhail Kornienko of the Russian space agency Roscosmos wrapped up their historic mission on March 1 – saying farewell to the crew staying on the station.

(Commentator: Farewell and Hatch Close)

“Getting ready to depart the International Space Station.”

Then climbing aboard the Soyuz spacecraft with cosmonaut Sergey Volkov, to begin their journey back to Earth.

(Commentator: Undocking)

“Undocked from the International Space Station. Mikhail Kornienko, Scott Kelly, Sergey Volkov – on their way home.”

Several hours later, the three floated to a safe parachute landing in Kazakhstan … back on solid ground for the first time in 340 days, it was not long before they were enjoying some of the things that they have missed most about being on Earth.

(Commentator: Post-landing)

“Scott just looked at us and said, ‘The air feels great out here, I have no idea why you guys are all bundled up.”

Just over a day, later – at Houston’s Ellington Field, near Johnson Space Center, a host of family, colleagues and VIPs were there to welcome Kelly back to the United States, including Second Lady of the United States Dr. Jill Biden, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology Dr. John P. Holdren, and NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. There were cheers, embraces and expressions of appreciation for his efforts to help advance deep space exploration and America’s Journey to Mars.

(Charles Bolden, NASA Administrator)

“People love you; they love everything you’ve done. So, on behalf of all of us, welcome back.”

(Dr. John Holdren, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology)

“It’s going to help us figure out how to deal with those physiological changes on the even longer missions that are ahead, when we go to Mars – and we are going to go to Mars there is no doubt about that, we are committed to it.”

(Dr. Jill Biden, Second Lady of The United States)

“You are truly are an inspiration to all of us. You’re doing that for so many young Americans and I thank you for that.”

(Scott Kelly, Expedition 46 Commander)

“This mission is the latest achievement in our country’s space program, but it’s not the last; there will be more. It’s in our DNA of our country to explore and we must never stop doing this – we must lead, we must learn and we must discover.”

Next ISS crew heads to launch site

Back in Russia, NASA astronaut Jeff Williams is preparing for his third tour aboard the International Space Station. On March 3, Williams and Expedition 47-48 crewmates Alexey Ovchinin and Oleg Skripochka of Roscosmos participated in traditional ceremonies before heading off to the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, to complete final training for their March 18 Eastern time launch to the station for a six-month mission.

“Low boom” aircraft

During a Feb. 29 media event at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden and Associate Administrator for Aeronautics Research, Jaiwon Shin, announced the selection of a team led by Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company to complete the preliminary design for Quiet Supersonic Technology (QueSST) – a “low boom” flight demonstration aircraft. It is the first in a series of ‘X-planes’ called for under NASA’s New Aviation Horizons initiative to build a clean transportation system for the 21st century. This development brings the return of supersonic passenger air travel a step closer to reality.

Orion Service Module’s solar array wing deployment

Also on Feb. 29, at Glenn Research Center’s Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio, engineers deployed a solar array wing on the test version of the Orion spacecraft’s service module. The 24-foot wing qualification model provided by the European Space Agency (ESA) was deployed to confirm that the array unfurled properly, and that all mechanical parts worked as expected. It was also an important first step to verify Orion’s power system for Exploration Mission-1, its first flight on NASA’s Space Launch System rocket.

Expressive art for asteroid mission

NASA’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft is scheduled to launch in September to asteroid Bennu – on the first U.S. mission to collect a sample of an asteroid and return it to Earth for study. The agency is looking for people to create art that expresses how the mission’s spirit of exploration is reflected in their own lives, and submit those creative expressions to ride onboard the spacecraft. Submissions will be accepted via Twitter and Instagram until March 20.

And that’s what’s up this week @NASA.