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Astronauts Blast Off For Year On Space Station

An American astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut have blasted off on a record-breaking mission to spend a year on the International Space Station.

Scott Kelly and Mikhail Kornienko, who launched on a Soyuz capsule from Kazakhstan, will be based at the orbital hub until March 2016, rather than the usual six-month posting.

NASA wants to know more about the impact of long-duration space flights on human physiology as it plans missions to Mars.

Kelly's identical twin Mark, a retired astronaut, will take part in a comparative medical study back on Earth.

He will undergo many of the same experiments as his orbiting sibling to help scientists see how a body in space compares with its genetic double on Earth.

Scientists say astronauts can experience such problems in space as impaired eyesight, bone loss and muscle atrophy.

The previous longest spell spent on the space station was seven months.

Kornienko's fellow Russian, Gennady Padalka, will join Kelly and Kornienko for six months of their mission.

The pair are not planning to break a record for the longest single spaceflight.

That was set by Russian former cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov, who spent more than 14 months aboard the Mir space station in 1994-95.

The ISS has about the same living space as a six-bedroom, two bathroom home - 250 miles above the Earth.

The view from its 360-degree bay window is spectacular.

Launched in 1998, the station was heralded as a symbol of the co-operation that emerged from the Cold War rivalry of the space race between the US and the Soviet Union.

Despite their rivalry back on Earth, not least over Ukraine, Russia confirmed last month it would continue partnering with America's space agency to use the International Space Station until 2024.