Astronauts dock with space station for 1-year mission

The capsule carrying a Russian and a New Jersey native who are to spend a year away from Earth has docked with the International Space Station. Russian national Mikhail Kornienko and West Orange native

News 12 Staff

Mar 28, 2015, 6:05 AM

Updated 3,582 days ago

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The capsule carrying a Russian and a New Jersey native who are to spend a year away from Earth has docked with the International Space Station.
Russian national Mikhail Kornienko and West Orange native Scott Kelly are to spend 342 days aboard the orbiting laboratory, about twice as long as a standard mission on the station.
The stay is aimed at measuring the effects of a prolonged period of weightlessness on the human body, a step toward possible missions to Mars or beyond.
The Soyuz space capsule, also carrying Russia's Gennady Padalka for a six-month stay, docked about six hours after launching Saturday from Russia's manned space facility in Kazakhstan.
The Associated Press Wire Services contributed to this report.