--- description: Though he’s still well below the worldwide record holder title: Scott Kelly Breaks U.S. Record for Most Time Spent in Space image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1d9186475179ac62/698868b7f887dc2942e92e6b/scott-kelly.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Science](/section/science/) ## Science Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Scott Kelly Breaks U.S. Record for Most Time Spent in Space  by [Denver Nicks](/author/denver-nicks/)  ## Denver Nicks Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 16, 2015 6:39 PM CUT  Scott Kelly waves from a bus during a sending-off ceremony in the Russian-leased Baikonur cosmodrome late on March 27, 2015. Scott Kelly waves from a bus during a sending-off ceremony in the Russian-leased Baikonur cosmodrome late on March 27, 2015.Kirill Kudrayavtsev—AFP/Getty Images  by [Denver Nicks](/author/denver-nicks/)  ## Denver Nicks Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 16, 2015 6:39 PM CUT U.S. astronaut Scott Kelly has set [a new record](http://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/scott-kelly-becomes-us-astronaut-to-spend-the-most-time-in-space "undefined") for the most days spent in space by an American, marking October 16 as his 383rd day spent off Earth. Kelly’s record surpasses astronaut Mike Fincke’s cumulative 382 days in space, NASA announced Friday. On October 29, Kelly will make history again when he breaks Expedition 14 commander Michael Lopez-Alegria’s record for the longest spaceflight by an American, which currently stands at 215 days. Kelly has been living aboard the International Space Station, where he conducts scientific experiments and uses social media to document life aboard the craft. He has also provided some of the most dramatic views of space from his extraterrestrial vantage point. TIME is producing a series of documentary films, titled [_A Year in Space_](http://time.com/space "undefined")_,_ about his time aboard the space station, which can be viewed on a [special site devoted to the yearlong mission](http://time.com/space "undefined"). By the end of his one-year mission, Kelly is set to have lived for a total 522 total days in space over the course of four missions. That won’t be enough to topple the worldwide record holder for most cumulative days spent in space, [held](http://www.space.com/11337-human-spaceflight-records-50th-anniversary.html "undefined") by Russian cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev for his 803 days over six missions. Lopez-Alegria’s 215 days spent on a single mission also comes up short of Russian cosmonaut Valery Polyakov, who spent 483 days in a row in space, more than any other human. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4076874/scott-kelly-most-time-in-space/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4076874/scott-kelly-most-time-in-space/"},"headline":"Scott Kelly Breaks U.S. Record for Most Time Spent in Space","datePublished":"2015-10-16T18:39:43.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T11:52:18.736Z","description":"But he’s still well below the worldwide record holder","url":"https://time.com/4076874/scott-kelly-most-time-in-space/","keywords":["Space","NASA","international space station","scott kelly"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1d9186475179ac62/698868b7f887dc2942e92e6b/scott-kelly.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Denver Nicks","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/denver-nicks/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1d9186475179ac62/698868b7f887dc2942e92e6b/scott-kelly.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Scott Kelly","caption":"Scott Kelly","creditText":"Kirill Kudrayavtsev—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4076874/scott-kelly-most-time-in-space/","name":"Scott Kelly Breaks U.S. Record for Most Time Spent in Space"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Watch An Astronaut Give Himself a Flu Shot in Space","description":"Watch An Astronaut Give Himself a Flu Shot in Space","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/fMElJ8Xf/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-09-24T21:39:39.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/fMElJ8Xf.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4076874/scott-kelly-most-time-in-space/","duration":"PT2M32S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4076874/scott-kelly-most-time-in-space/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```