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Scientists Study One-Year Crew to Prepare For Journey to Mars

Color palette of the French coast
Astronaut Scott Kelly posted this photo of the Mediterranean coast of France taken from the International Space Station on Instagram.

View the best pics taken by the One-Year-Crew

One-Year Crew members Scott Kelly and Mikhail Kornienko just completed the half-way point of their 342-day mission. The duo, who are scheduled to come home March 3, 2016, are participating in numerous life science experiments. Scientists from around the world want to learn how the human body adapts to long-term space missions so NASA can prepare for the Journey to Mars. Read more about the One-Year Crew’s midway point.

Kelly and Kornienko participated in the Fluid Shifts study Wednesday morning performing ultrasound scans on themselves. The long-running human research program explores brain pressure and visual impairment some astronauts have experienced due to microgravity affecting the direction of fluids in their bodies.

Kelly later joined Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui transferring cargo to and from Japan’s “Kounotori” H-II Transfer Vehicle-5 (HTV-5) resupply ship. The HTV-5 will end its mission at the International Space Station Sept. 28 when it will be robotically released from the Harmony module for a fiery destruction over the Pacific Ocean.