For the first time ever, an American astronaut will spend an entire year living in space.

Scott Kelly will lift-off to the International Space Station on March 27, 2015 from Kazakhstan in Central Asia. Russian astronaut, Mikhail Kornienko will accompany him.

The Russians, however, already has four cosmonauts who have spent over a year in spasce. One of these men, cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov, spent 437 days at the Mir space station, ending his endurance record in March 1995.

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To revive human space exploration missions, NASA is planning to send astronauts to Mars by 2030. The space agency will conduct a battery of tests to observe how long periods of space travel can affect the human body.

Astronauts will need to travel three years to reach the Red Planet and return.

Kelly and Kornienko went through rigorous training for six months before this historic flight. Each one has already spent his fair share in space.

Kelly was aboard the space shuttle in 1999 for nine days. His second for 13 days and in 2010, he spent 159 days on the ISS. By the time he flies to the station, it will be a few weeks after his 51st birthday.

On the other hand, Russia already has four cosmonauts who have spent than one year in space. Kornienko is now 54 years old and recently became a grandfather for the first time.

TagsNASA Sends Astronauts for a One Year Mission in Space, NASA, scott kelly, astronauts, US, NASA one year space mission astronauts ISS