Astronaut Scott Kelly, the first American to spend one year in space, announced on Friday his retirement from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, or NASA, after a career spanning 20 years – during which time he participated in four missions.
“This year-in-space mission was a profound challenge for all involved, and it gave me a unique perspective and a 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,” Kelly said in a statement, published by NASA.
The announcement comes only 10 days after Kelly returned to Earth with Russia’s Mikhail Kornienko, after spending 340 days on the International Space Station, or ISS, as a part of a mission to study the resistance of the human body in space and determine whether it is safe to send people to Mars.
After his anticipated retirement on April 1, Kelly will continue to participate in studies on his year-long mission in space, including medical and other tests.
After his latest mission, Kelly holds the record for the longest continuous stay (340 days) of any NASA astronaut aboard the space station, as well as the most cumulative time spent in space by an American citizen (520 days).
The 52-year old astronaut joined NASA in 1966, and has been on three other space missions, including a servicing mission to NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope aboard the space shuttle Discovery in 1999 and a mission to the ISS in 2007, followed by a six-month stay in 2010.
“I am humbled and excited by new opportunities for me to support and share the amazing work NASA is doing to help us travel farther into the solar system and work with the next generation of science and technology leaders,” said Kelly.
Kelly, who is married with two children, said after returning from his last mission that he had missed his family during his long stay at the ISS.
