NASA and the Russian Federal Space Agency have selected two veteran astronauts to undertake a , the longest American spaceflight in history. If all goes according to plan, Scott Kelley and Mikhail Kornienk will launch aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan in the spring of 2015. Their time aboard the Station will be spent attempting to better understand how the human body adapts and reacts to the harsh conditions of outer space, measuring bone density, muscle mass, strength, and vision over time. The data will hopefully help NASA and its Russian counterpart better prepare for future missions to distant targets like Mars.
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