Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko and US astronaut Scott Kelly are getting ready for the 12 month long duty on the international space station. This will be the longest stay in space ever attempted; this will be a challenge for the 2 daredevils while they will be on board the 400km high orbiting space station.

Scientists are keen to find out the effects of living in space on the human body, the extended period will give scientists are chance to understand the effects better. The data will be valuable because space agencies are planning a trip to Mars.

Although this will be a new record for this particular space station, the record for the longest stay is much higher in the Old Russian Mir space station. This kind of attempt was made 20 years ago but science has advanced since then. Scientists are interested to see the capability of the human body on how will it perform during this test.

Zero Gravity is known to have side effects on the human body and many astronauts and cosmonauts have suffered muscle and bone loss but now scientists have developed programmed exercise and nutrition to counter these side effects.

One problem that doctors are facing is the availability of data, the data is poor, and they need more data on the effects on immune system. The main danger is the concern about the damage to the eyesight during space flight and then there is a problem with fluid distribution in zero gravity.