NASA officials made an announcement on March 11 that astronaut Scott Kelly, who has lately completed an extraordinary yearlong mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS), and is holder of the American record of spending most number of days out of Earth, will retire on April 1.

Post retirement, Scott Kelly will keep on taking part in the research linked to his one-year space mission, which was planned to assist in clearing the way for crewed missions to the Red Planet by highlighting the ways long-duration spaceflight affects the body of a human being both psychologically and physiologically.

In a statement, Kelly, a former Navy test pilot, said, “This year-in-space mission was a profound challenge for all involved, and it gave me unique perspective and lot of time to reflect on what my next step should be on our continued journey to help further our capabilities in space and on Earth”.

The astronaut added that his career with the Navy and NASA has given him a superb opportunity to display public service to which he is dedicated, and what scientists can achieve on massive challenges. Kelly mentioned that he was humbled by the awesome opportunities he has been given to back and share the remarkable work the US space agency has been doing to help them travel farther into the solar system and work together with the leaders of the upcoming generation of science and technology.

The 52-year-old astronaut has flown in space four different times, mounting up to a huge total of 520 days on orbit. Most of the days have been spent by him on the yearlong mission, which Kelly has been on in the company of cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko. In March last year, both of them were launched and they returned earlier this month.