Expedition 26 Commander Scott Kelly displays a blue wrist band with the name of his sister-in-law, U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords who was badly wounded in an Arizona shooting rampage in January, as he rests in a helicopter after landing near the town of Arkalyk March 16, 2011. (REUTERS/Bill Ingalls/NASA/Handout)
Astronaut Scott Kelly, who had been the Expedition 26 commander aboard the International Space Station returned to Earth toda, landing near the town of Arkalyk in northern Kazakhstan aboard a Soyuz capsule carrying him and two Russian astronauts.
Kelly is the twin brother of Mark Kelly, the commander of STS-134, slated to launch from Kennedy Space Center on April 19 aboard space shuttle Endeavour.
There was a time when the two had a chance to become the first twins in space, but the delay of Discovery’s launch from last November to February pushed Endeavour’s planned visit to the ISS so the twins would never meet in space.
Mark Kelly’s wife is Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., who was critically wounded in a mass shooting in January that killed six. Scott Kelly was aboard the ISS when that happened.
Scott Kelly flew on two shuttle missions prior to his stay on the ISS. He was pilot aboard space shuttle Discovery for STS-103 in December 1999 that serviced the Hubble Space Telescope.
He was commander aboard space shuttle Endeavour on STS-118 to the International Space Station in August 2007.
Kelly flew up to the ISS on Oct. 9, 2010 aboard Russian Soyuz as a flight engineer during Expedition 25. He became Expedition 26 commander on Nov. 25, 2010 when a Soyuz spacecraft took the previous commander back to Earth. During his stay on the ISS, he saw the visit of Discovery on STS-133, its final mission in space, as well as the docking of the Soyuz with the rest of his Expedition 26 crew, two Progress resupply vehicles, the European Automated Transfer Vehicle and a Japanese H-II Transfer Vehicle.
Below are more photos of Scott’s return to the planet.
Russian cosmonauts Oleg Skripochka (right), Alexander Kaleri (center) and U.S. astronaut Scott Kelly (lef) are seen inside of Russian Soyuz TMA-01M spacecraft shortly after their landing near the town of Arkalyk in northern Kazakhstan, on March 16, 2011. The capsule carrying the previous crew of the International Space Station (ISS) landed successfully in Kazakhstan. (SERGEI REMEZOV/AFP/Getty Images)
U.S. astronaut Scott Kelly and an unidentified girl pose for a picture during press conference in Kustanay shortly after its landing near the town of Arkalyk in northern Kazakhstan on March 16, 2011. (DMITRY KOSTYUKOV/AFP/Getty Images)
A Russian space agency rescuers helicopter lands near the Soyuz capsule with Russian cosmonauts Oleg Skripochka, Alexander Kaleri and U.S. astronaut Scott Kelly on board shortly after its landing near the town of Arkalyk in northern Kazakhstan, on March 16, 2011. (DMITRY KOSTYUKOV/AFP/Getty Images)
A Russian space agency rescuers' helicopter hovers near the Soyuz capsule with Russian cosmonauts Oleg Skripochka, Alexander Kaleri and U.S. astronaut Scott Kelly on board shortly after its landing near the town of Arkalyk in northern Kazakhstan, on March 16, 2011. (DMITRY KOSTYUKOV/AFP/Getty Images)
