--- title: "Astronaut and retired Navy Captain Scott Kelly returns to Earth after a year in space" description: "Even after 340 days in zero-gravity weakened his muscles, astronaut and retired Navy Captain Scott Kelly successfully returned to Earth strong enough to give a [fist pump and thumbs up]()." date: "2018-04-02" modified: "2020-10-21" authors: - name: "Blake Stilwell" job_title: "Editor-In-Chief, Air Force Veteran" link: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/authors/blake/" url: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/mighty-trending/astronaut-scott-kelly-returns-to-earth-after-a-year-in-space/" categories: - "History" - "Navy" --- # Astronaut and retired Navy Captain Scott Kelly returns to Earth after a year in space ![]() Even after 340 days in zero-gravity weakened his muscles, astronaut and retired Navy Captain Scott Kelly successfully returned to Earth strong enough to give a [fist pump and thumbs up](). --- https://twitter.com/GabbyGiffords/status/704895117480599553 Kelly's 144 million-mile star trek ended when his Souyuz capsule landed in Kazakhstan. "The air feels great out here," Kelly reportedly said as he was lifted out of the capsule. His yearlong stay on on the International Space Station (ISS) gives him more days in space than any other U.S. astronaut. While on board, he worked alongside Russian, European, and Japanese personnel, circling the Earth 5,440 times. Mars is a 2.5 year round-trip journey. Trouble starts with muscular atrophy. Maintaining muscle is tough in zero gravity. Astronaut calf muscles compared after a six month mission on the ISS show even after aerobic exercise five hours a week and resistance exercise three to six days per week, muscle volume and power both still decrease significantly. In one of the more extreme cases, Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield returned to Earth after two months and had to undergo strength training for a few weeks to re-acclimate to Earth's gravity. Kelly is part of a NASA experiment on the effects of extended time in space on the human body. It just so happens his brother Mark is also an astronaut, but more importantly, he's a genetic twin. Mark Kelly, husband of former Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, was the control subject on the ground. Both gave blood, saliva and urine samples, ultrasounds and bone scans, received flu shots and more, to be compared when Scott returned. While in space, Kelly sent more than a thousand tweets, including beautiful images of Earth. https://twitter.com/StationCDRKelly/status/701876179075276801 And he watched as the newsworthy events of the year unfolded from his high perch. https://twitter.com/StationCDRKelly/status/690850325390049280 He stood with France after the terrorist attacks in Paris, even though his feet couldn't reach the ground. https://twitter.com/StationCDRKelly/status/665599470155862016 And he saw epic sunrises we on Earth could only dream. https://twitter.com/StationCDRKelly/status/704705817661083649 Welcome home, Captain Kelly. ## Author Blake Stilwell is We Are The Mighty's Editor-in-Chief, covering military news, entertainment, and history, along with veteran education, employment and entrepreneurship. He is a former U.S. Air Force combat cameraman with degrees in Graphic Design, Television and Film, International Relations, Public Relations, Business Management and Middle Eastern Affairs. After leaving the military, he began working in film and television production in New York and Los Angeles, work that included ABC News, NBC Olympics, and HBO Sports. He then spent two years in Washington with White House Communications, before joining the Near East Foundation. At NEF he served as an International Development Fellow, then Communications Officer, and finally, Media Officer for the Middle East and Africa. Based in the Palestinian Territory, he coordinated strategic communications between eight country offices, international media, and government and NGO partners. He began a career focused on writing and editing in 2015 with We Are The Mighty. He left in 2019 for Military.com, but returned as Editor-in-Chief in 2025. Blake’s work has been seen on CBS News, Fox News, CBC, The Chicago Tribune, Task & Purpose, Military Times, Recoil, Skillset, American History, and was shockingly even used in a Supreme Court argument. He is an avid traveler and small business owner in Ohio, where he spends most of his energy fixing up a very old house. ### Author social links [Facebook]() [Twitter]() [Instagram]() [LinkedIn]()