Westwood One News Goes Far Out To Get The Story

Dirk Van

One month into a record year-long stay on the International Space Station (ISS), American Astronaut Scott Kelly and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko joined Westwood One News anchor Dirk Van for a live interview from space.

An extended interview aired Thursday during Van’s First Light program.

Kelly and Kornienko blasted off from Kazakhstan last month.  During their extended mission, the two men will act as NASA test subjects for several experiments, including the long-term effects of weightlessness.



During the interview, Kelly:

• Says he is hopeful that a manned mission to Mars will occur in his lifetime.
• Says he favors space tourism, noting the Russians have hosted "tourists" aboard the ISS. He says he'd love for it to be more frequent.
• Says NASA is tracking his physiological changes during a year in space in comparison to his earthbound twin, retired Astronaut Mike Kelly, which gives his brother an opportunity to continue to make contributions to the space program.