1-year space crewmen will miss weather, nature while gone

This combination of August 2010 and February 2015 photos provided by the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) and the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center (GCTC) shows astronaut Scott Kelly and cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko in Star City, Russia. On Saturday, March 28, 2015, Kelly and Kornienko will travel to the International Space Station to begin a year-long mission living in orbit. (AP Photo/Roscosmos/GCTC) This combination of August 2010 and February 2015 photos provided by the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) and the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center (GCTC) shows astronaut Scott Kelly and cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko in Star City, Russia. On Saturday, March 28, 2015, Kelly and Kornienko will travel to the International Space Station to begin a year-long mission living in orbit. (AP Photo/Roscosmos/GCTC)

By Associated Press March 23, 2015 3 min read

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) – The American astronaut and Russian cosmonaut about to embark on a one-year flight are similar in many ways: born in the 1960s, fathers of daughters, military backgrounds.

But there are differences, too. Scott Kelley, a divorced dad of two, still has a school-age daughter. Mikhail Kornienko is married to an OB-GYN, his daughter is grown, and he’s a new grandfather.

Kelly and Kornienko leave the world behind this week for a year at the International Space Station. They’ve lived there before, although for only half that long and at separate times.