Astronaut Scott Kelly announces retirement from NASA, just days after return from year in space
Godspeed, Scott Kelly.
Ten days after finishing up nearly a year in space, the veteran of 4 spaceflights introduced at present that he would retire from NASA on April 1. However he additionally promised to remain concerned in the space effort, even after including 143.8 million miles to his orbital odometer.
“Our universe is an enormous place, and now we have many hundreds of thousands of miles but to discover,” he stated in a Facebook posting. “My departure from NASA is my subsequent step on that journey. I stay ever dedicated and devoted to the service of human exploration and development whether or not in space or on Earth.”
With 540 days in space below his belt, Kelly is sort of sure to have surpassed NASA’s lifetime limits for radiation publicity. Scientists acknowledged even earlier than the 52-year-old’s return to Earth on March 1 that his possibilities of taking up one other spaceflight for NASA have been just about nil. However Kelly hasn’t dominated out the concept of flying into space for a business enterprise like SpaceX or Boeing.
He doesn’t should look far for an instance. His twin brother, Mark Kelly, retired from the astronaut corps in 2011 and is now director of flight crew operations for World View Enterprises, which goals to ship passengers into the stratosphere in a balloon-borne capsule.
On my @NASA #retirement after a #YearInSpace: https://t.co/5InAr0R3se Thanks for following! The journey continues… pic.twitter.com/PIWpZlJ34K
— Scott Kelly (@StationCDRKelly) March 11, 2016
For greater than a year, Scott and Mark Kelly have been giving samples and present process medical checks for a NASA research into the consequences of long-term spaceflight. At present Scott stated he would proceed to take part in that research “for so long as is critical.”
Earlier than his choice as a NASA astronaut in 1996, Scott Kelly served as an aviator and check pilot for the U.S. Navy. He referred to the previous in addition to the longer term in his Fb submit:
“My profession with the Navy and NASA gave me an unbelievable probability to showcase public service to which I’m devoted and what we will accomplish on the large challenges of our day.
“I’m humbled and excited by new alternatives for me to assist and share the superb work NASA is doing to assist us journey farther into the photo voltaic system and work with the following technology of science and know-how leaders. I sit up for persevering with my 30 years of public service in a brand new function.
“To proceed towards any journey, we should at all times problem ourselves to take the following step.”
NASA was fast to pay tribute to Kelly in return. The space company’s administrator, Charles Bolden, stated in a statement that he was “one of many most interesting astronauts in the historical past of the space program” and deserved to get some “relaxation and time on the identical planet as his household and mates.”
“All of us in the NASA household — and certainly in the broader scientific group — are grateful that he was prepared to sacrifice time together with his family members, meals that don’t come in a bag, a chilly beer, sizzling showers, cool autumn breezes, the sounds of birds chirping, the power to put his head on an precise pillow, and a lot extra of the pleasures of life throughout his year of analysis and experimentation on the Worldwide Space Station,” Bolden stated.
Listed here are among the Twitter tributes from the previous week:
Administrator Charles Bolden on the retirement of #YearInSpace astronaut @StationCDRKelly: https://t.co/4GXruA6RSN pic.twitter.com/kXZEJljH93
— NASA (@NASA) March 11, 2016
After a #YearInSpace, @StationCDRKelly to retire from NASA, will nonetheless assist our analysis: https://t.co/dQdUtNLofJ pic.twitter.com/AePQ1LaN2Y
— NASA (@NASA) March 11, 2016
.@CoryBooker, @SenatorMenendez Introduce Decision Honoring New Jersey Astronaut Scott Kelly: https://t.co/LJAFF0tgAo
— Sen. Cory Booker (@SenBookerOffice) March 7, 2016
Welcome again to ?, @StationCDRKelly! #YearInSpace ?https://t.co/L3CLnKgaCS
— White Home Archived (@ObamaWhiteHouse) March 4, 2016
.@StationCDRKelly would not be fooling us by saying he is retiring April 1, would he? He is a critical man. OR IS HE?? pic.twitter.com/DVEhV6oiJm
— Alan Boyle (@b0yle) March 12, 2016