Twins to be in space together for first time

William Atkins
Saturday, 14 August 2010 00:00

Science - Space

The U.S. space agency NASA and the Russian space agency Roscosmos are scheduled to launch Mark Kelly and Scott Kelly, respectively, into space later in 2010 and early in 2011. If their missions remain on schedule, they will become the first twin brothers in space.

 

According to the NASA media brief 'Twin Brother NASA Astronauts Available For Satellite Interviews,' the commander of the last scheduled NASA space shuttle flight is U.S. astronaut Mark Kelly.

This last currently scheduled space shuttle flight by NASA is STS-134, with a currently-scheduled liftoff time of 4:04 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) on February 26, 2011.

The mission onboard the space shuttle Endeavour will be a mission to supply the Space Station with additional cargo and parts (such as two S-band communications antennas and a high-pressure gas tank).

It will also deliver micrometeoroid debris shields and the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS).

The AMS will study the origin of the Universe, looking for strange particles such as antimatter and dark matter.

And, U.S. astronaut Scott Kelly, Mark's twin brother, is scheduled to launch to the International Space Station on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft.

The mission, called Soyuz TMA-01M, will carry Russian cosmonauts Aleksandr Kaleri and Oleg Skripochka, along with U.S. astroanaut Scott Kelly.

The Roscosmos mission is scheduled for an October 8, 2010 liftoff time (local date from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan).

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