American astronaut Scott Kelly returned to Earth on March 1, 2016 after travelling 144 million miles over 340 days in space. He and his Russian counterpart landed in Kazakhstan at 11:26 on the Soyuz TMA-18M space capsule.

Kelly is the first American astronaut to spend a year in space, and conducted about 400 investigations to advance NASA’s mission to land on Mars. Kelly researched how the human body reacted with weightlessness, isolation, radiation, and the stress of spaceflight. Kelly’s twin brother, Mark Kelly, is also a former astronaut. He stayed on Earth in order to conduct twin studies and compare his body to that of Scott’s to measure the effect of space on the body.

Being that Kelly and his crew were travelling on an orbital path that covered Earth, they also captured new, updated images of their home planet.

During his trip, Kelly provided an insight for citizens of Earth into his #YearInSpace by being very active on social media sites, such as Twitter (@StationCDRKely) and Instagram (@stationcdrkelly). Kelly describes how his Internet presence proved a bonding project between him and his girlfriend, Amiko Kauderer, who worked together to construct his posts. Kelly says, “She did an outstanding job. It was a partnership.”

Kelly describes how his favorite pastime in space was his WiFi-connected gadgets, which connected him to his social media. He also closely followed the election (Super Tuesday was one of the first things he asked about upon landing), as well as environmental issues, such as pollution, forest fires, and extreme weather patterns.

Upon returning back to Earth, Kelly was immediately whisked into various medical tests. After tests in Kazakhstan, he flew to Norway and his hometown, Houston to do even more. At home, he took his first dip in the pool in a year. He explains, “We make do without having a shower on board. And it’s not like you feel dirty, but I definitely wanted to jump in a pool. I think pretty soon I may feel a culture shock from having so many choices about what you will do every day.”

At the NASA news conference on March 4^th, Kelly said, “I think the only big surprise was how long a year is. It seemed like I lived there forever. It seemed longer than I thought it would be.”

Kelly has reported that he feels the effects of this space trip more than those of his previous trips. He reports, “My level of muscle soreness is a lot higher than it was last time.” Kelly’s skin is also hypersensitive skin to touch; the “burning feeling” is due to the lack of physical contact he experienced in space, such as clothes on his body. Kelly is also readjusting to gravity on Earth; none of the balls he threw in a game of basketball in his first hours back at home made it into the net. “Throwing things, you tend to underestimate the effects of gravity,” he says.

NASA doctors are testing Kelly for bone weakness and far-sightedness, as well as the effect of solar radiation on his body. This data will contribute to research about cancer, diabetes, cardiac issues, and other diseases.

John Charles, NASA’s chief scientist, explained that the anti-gravity flow of bodily fluids in space caused Kelly’s spine to elongate, making him two inches taller. However, just two days back in Earth’s gravity has caused him to shrink back to normal size.

Kelly’s first food back on Earth was a banana. When he returned to Houston, the second lady, Jill Biden, brought him beer and apple pie.

Kelly now holds the record for longest single stay in space, as well as most time overall. He has spent 520 days in space over 4 missions. Though Kelly plans to remain involved with NASA, it is unlikely they will send him back to space, in order to provide other qualified astronauts a chance for space travel. He may, however, travel to space again with commercial space programs. He says, “They might need a guy like me someday. Maybe in the twenty years you could be able to buy a ticket and go for a little visit.”