--- title: Scott Kelly: Astronaut to Retire After Year in Space description: Astronaut Scott Kelly will retire from NASA in April less than a month after returning from a year in space, the agency announced Friday canonical: https://time.com/4256439/scott-kelly-retirement-nasa/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-03-11T23:19:59.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:00:16.530Z article:section: Science og:title: Scott Kelly: Astronaut to Retire After Year in Space og:description: Astronaut Scott Kelly will retire from NASA in April less than a month after returning from a year in space, the agency announced Friday og:url: https://time.com/4256439/scott-kelly-retirement-nasa/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb0d4c670849356d8/69888abb0b72e3ac966e8807/scott-kelly-year-in-space-retirement.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Scott Kelly retirement year in space og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Scott Kelly: Astronaut to Retire After Year in Space twitter:description: Astronaut Scott Kelly will retire from NASA in April less than a month after returning from a year in space, the agency announced Friday twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb0d4c670849356d8/69888abb0b72e3ac966e8807/scott-kelly-year-in-space-retirement.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Astronaut Scott Kelly to Retire from NASA  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Mar 11, 2016 11:19 PM UTC  NASA Astronaut Scott Kelly speaks to the media after returning from a one year mission in space aboard the International Space Station, March 4, 2016 in Houston, Texas. NASA Astronaut Scott Kelly speaks to the media after returning from a one year mission in space aboard the International Space Station, March 4, 2016 in Houston, Texas.Eric Kayne—Getty Images  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Mar 11, 2016 11:19 PM UTC Astronaut Scott Kelly will retire from NASA in April, less than a month after returning from a [year in space](http://time.com/4249006/scott-kelly-pool-year-space/), the agency [announced Friday](http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/astronaut-scott-kelly-to-retire-from-nasa-in-april), Kelly will continue to participate in research related to his year-long time in the International Space Station. Scientists are studying the effects of his journey on his body and comparing those results with similar tests conducted on his twin brother who remained on earth. “This year-in-space mission was a profound challenge for all involved,” Kelly said in a press release. “It gave me a unique perspective and a lot of time to reflect on what my next step should be on our continued journey to help further our capabilities in space and on Earth.”  Kelly’s final space mission—the longest ever of any American—was his fourth journey into space. He [returned to Earth](http://time.com/4244421/scott-kelly-year-in-space-land-soyuz/) in early March and declared “this feels great.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4256439/scott-kelly-retirement-nasa/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4256439/scott-kelly-retirement-nasa/"},"headline":"Astronaut Scott Kelly to Retire from NASA","datePublished":"2016-03-11T23:19:59.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:00:16.530Z","description":"He's hanging up his spacesuit","url":"https://time.com/4256439/scott-kelly-retirement-nasa/","keywords":["A Year In Space"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb0d4c670849356d8/69888abb0b72e3ac966e8807/scott-kelly-year-in-space-retirement.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb0d4c670849356d8/69888abb0b72e3ac966e8807/scott-kelly-year-in-space-retirement.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Scott Kelly retirement year in space","caption":"Scott Kelly retirement year in space","creditText":"Eric Kayne—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":"/tag/a-year-in-space/","name":"A Year In Space"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4256439/scott-kelly-retirement-nasa/","name":"Astronaut Scott Kelly to Retire from NASA"}}]}] ```