U.S. astronaut Scott Kelly, scheduled for a 2015 mission to the International Space Station, and his twin brother, former astronaut Mark Kelly, volunteered for a one-year study. (Photo: Provided to Florida Today)
Story Highlights Scott Kelly to launch in March 2015 on a yearlong mission on the International Space Station while Mark Kelly remains on Earth The research on the twins will be secondary to joint U.S.-Russian experiments already being planned for the 12-month tour of duty Mark and Scott Kelly are the only twins and only siblings to have flown in space
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Twin astronauts will serve as test subjects for human spaceflight experiments when one of the brothers flies a yearlong expedition on the International Space Station while the other remains on Earth.
Space station-bound U.S. astronaut Scott Kelly and his sibling, former astronaut Mark Kelly, volunteered for the unique opportunity. In fact, it was their idea.
"This opportunity originated at the initiative of the twin astronauts themselves," NASA said in a solicitation for research proposals this week.
"I have to say this is a cool idea. Hats off to the Kelly brothers for making this offer," Keith Cowing, editor and manager of NASA Watch, said in a comment on the popular website.
NASA Watch posted a link this week to a NASA call for proposals for the scientific project: "Differential Effects on Homozygous Twin Astronauts Associated with Differences in Exposure to Spaceflight Factors." The deadline for research proposals is 5 p.m. EDT Sept. 17.
NASA selected Scott Kelly to launch in March 2015 on a yearlong mission on the International Space Station.
Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko will be flying with him. The research on the twins will be secondary to joint U.S.-Russian experiments already being planned for the 12-month tour of duty.
"As currently conceived, this project will center on established plans for blood sampling on the flying twin at regular intervals before, during and after the one-year ISS mission, and will obtain corresponding samples from the nonflying twin, who will otherwise maintain a normal lifestyle," the solicitation says.
"Limited additional sampling" of blood, saliva, cheek swabs and stool will be considered along with psychological or physical performance tests as long as they don't interfere with primary research and the experiments "illuminate one of more aspects of transient or long-term effects of spaceflight on humans," the solicitation says.
NASA and 15 international partners are using the space station as a test-bed for biomedical and other experiments that shed light on the deleterious effects of long stays in weightlessness on the human body. The experiments are deemed key to developing countermeasures to protect astronauts flying on lengthy future missions to destinations such as the moon, Mars or asteroids.
Scott Kelly, 49, is a veteran of two space shuttle flights and a six-month mission aboard the International Space Station. He will have a cumulative total of 540 days in space at the conclusion of his 12-month mission.
Mark Kelly is the husband of former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., who was critically wounded in a January 2011 assassination attempt in Tucson that killed six and injured a dozen others.
A veteran of four space shuttle missions, Mark Kelly flew 54 days in space. He retired from NASA after commanding the final flight of the orbiter Endeavour - and the penultimate flight of the space shuttle program - in May 2011.
He and Scott Kelly are the only twins and only siblings to have flown in space.
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