Astronaut Scott Kelly blasts off on yearlong space station mission

U.S. astronaut Scott Kelly, crew member of the mission to the International Space Station (ISS), gestures before the launch of Soyuz-FG rocket at the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. (REUTERS/Dmitry Lovetsky/Pool)

Soyuz TMA-16M spacecraft is seen at its launch pad at the Baikonur cosmodrome. (REUTERS/Maxim Zmeyev)

Astronaut Scott Kelly has blasted off on his yearlong mission to the International Space Station.

The capsule carrying Kelly and two Russian cosmonauts was launched into space by a Soyuz-FG booster rocket, lifting off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 3:42 p.m. ET.

The journey to the International Space Station is expected to take 6 hours.

Of the three-man team, American Scott Kelly and Russian Mikhail Kornienko are to stay at the International Space Station until March 2016. Their trip is NASA's first stab at a one-year spaceflight, anticipating Mars expeditions that would last two-to-three years.

“This is an important step forward to start utilizing ISS more effectively in preparation for human missions to Mars,” Chris Carberry, executive director of Explore Mars, a non-profit organization which aims to advance the goal of sending humans to Mars, told FoxNews.com.  “We look forward to more ambitious missions at ISS and beyond that help achieve human landings on Mars in the 2030s.”

During his year orbiting the earth Kelly will take part in a landmark NASA study into the effects of space on the human body, with scientists comparing his data to that of twin brother Mark, a former astronaut, back on earth. Mark Kelly’s blood samples, exercise, and overall health will be monitored by scientists from 12 universities to gain insight into the impact of the yearlong mission on his brother.

At the end of his mission to the International Space Station, Scott Kelly will become the first American to spend 12 consecutive months in space.

Kelly and his Russian counterpart Kornienko have each already logged about 180 days in space, according to Space.com. Kelly has made three previous missions to space and Kornienko spent 6 months aboard the International Space Station in 2010.

Kornienko is the fifth Russian cosmonaut to undertake a one-year space mission.

The third member of the crew, cosmonaut Gennady Padalka, will spend about 6 months on the International Space Station before returning to Earth.

Friday’s mission is Kelly’s second trip to the International Space Station. The former U.S. Navy pilot spent just over 5 months on the space station between October 2010 and March 2011.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report

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Kelly discounts speculation of life in politics (AP)

WASHINGTON – Mark Kelly, the astronaut husband of wounded congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, dismissed speculation that he is interested in running for political office now that he is retiring from NASA.

Kelly has been mentioned as a potential candidate for office in Giffords' home state of Arizona, particularly for the seat of retiring Republican Sen. Jon Kyl. But the commander of the space shuttle, Endeavour, told an audience at the National Press Club on Friday that his main focus now and for the foreseeable future would be to spend more time with his children and take care of his wife as she seeks to recover from a January shooting in Tucson.

"She's the politician in the family," Kelly said of the three-term Democratic congresswoman. "I'm the space guy, and I see no reason to change that now."

Giffords, 41, is undergoing outpatient therapy in Houston. In recent weeks, she has visited her hometown of Tucson and made her first public appearance during an awards ceremony for her husband. She has not said when, or if, she'll return to Congress. However, Democratic colleagues are hopeful that she'll be able to run again and have held fundraisers on her behalf.

Kelly was speaking along with NASA Administrator Charles Bolden Jr. about the future of NASA during a luncheon. Kelly's comments about his own future came at the end of his remarks. He said that he found the speculation about his plans interesting but said it meant it must be a slow summer.

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