Expedition 43 NASA Astronaut Scott Kelly, left, talks with Russian Cosmonaut Gennady Padalka of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) during an Soyuz TMA-16M Trajectory and Flight Plan briefing, Thursday, March 19, 2015 at Cosmonaut Hotel in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Kelly, and Russian Cosmonauts Gennady Padalka, and Mikhail Kornienko of Roscosmos are preparing for launch to the International Space Station in their Soyuz TMA-16M spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan March 27. As the one-year crew, Kelly and Kornienko will return to Earth on Soyuz TMA-18M in March 2016. Scott Joseph Kelly (born February 21, 1964) is an American astronaut, engineer and a retired U.S. Navy Captain. A veteran of three previous missions, Kelly was selected along with Mikhail Korniyenko in November 2012 for a special year-long mission to the International Space Station. Kelly commanded the International Space Station (ISS) on Expedition 26. He was Commander of the International Space Station on the one year mission until February 29, 2016, when he passed control to Timothy Kopra. In October 2015, he set the record for the total number of days spent in space by an American astronaut, 382. Kelly spent 340 consecutive days in space.