Astronaut Scott Kelly is retiring from Nasa now that he’s completed his year in space

After spending a year orbiting the Earth from a distance of 220 miles, Scott Kelly has decided to retire from Nasa at the end of March.

Kelly is definitely going out on a high – he holds the American record for the most time spent in space and has carved his way into the public’s hearts and minds with his awe-inspiring pictures from the International Space Station (ISS).

He’s no doubt contributed to the increased interest in space over recent years.

The 52 year old will continue to work on research relating to his one-year mission, providing medical samples in the same way his twin brother, former astronaut Mark Kelly, made himself available for Nasa’s twin study during Scott’s time in space.

“This year-in-space mission was a profound challenge for all involved, and 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 said.

“My career with the Navy and Nasa gave me an incredible chance to showcase public service to which I am dedicated, and what we can accomplish on the big challenges of our day.

I am humbled and excited by new opportunities for me to support and share the amazing work Nasa is doing to help us travel farther into the solar system and work with the next generation of science and technology leaders.”

Kelly landed back on Earth from his most recent mission at the beginning of March and the experiments conducted during his time in orbit will help improve our understanding of what happens to the human body over such a long period in space – paving the way for arrival of humans on Mars.

His first time in space was 1999 and he’d return a further three times, clocking up a total of 520 days out there.

“Records are meant to be broken,” said Kelly. “I am looking forward to when these records in space are surpassed.”