NASA astronaut Scott Kelly will be returning to Earth on Tuesday after spending eleven months in lower Earth orbit aboard the International Space Station, where he completed spacewalks, grew vegetables and celebrated his birthday in zero gravity.

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Kelly will be arriving around 11:45 P.M. EST, who will touchdown on Kazakhstan in Central Asia today, after spending approximately 340 days in space, which is a new record for an American astronaut.

The astronaut will then be flown to Houston, Texas the next day where he will be greeted by NASA Administrator Charles including Second Lady Jill Biden and congratulated by Assistant to the President for Science and Technology John P. Holdren. This welcoming home celebration will also be attended by Scott's identical twin brother, NASA astronaut Mark Kelly.

Kelly had spoken to media prior to his return where he says that this marathon mission could provide some critical details that can help humans to reach Mars in the near future. His extended stay at the orbiting space laboratory is one of the projects of NASA that aims to gain more insight about the effects of long exposures of microgravity on the human body.

The veteran space explorer also hopes that his flight legacy could someday help decide and achieve the hard things that takes humans away further away from Earth and this is one of them. Kelly will also be returning with fellow veteran cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko of Roscosmos along with cosmonaut Sergey Volkovcosmon.

He adds how there are still a lot to learn about long duration space flight which can take humans to Mars someday, as this is another one of many major stepping stones for mankind that will eventually lead to the surface of Mars in the near future.

Kelly also mentioned that he could also stay in space for another year if need be, however, he is excited to get back home and return to a life of gravity, showers and human contact, adding that he misses folks on the ground that you care and love, and want to spend time with.

He says that even after almost a year in space, you do not feel perfectly normal, where the astronaut spent a total of 520 days in space from four missions, describing life aboard the ISS.

Kelly reveals life in space, how there is a lingering feeling that it is just not normal, but having said that, it is not necessarily uncomfortable, even if it is a harsh environment. He adds how there is no running water, comparing it to living in the woods, camping for a year, and the fact that everything is floating which makes daily life more challenging.