Homecoming for 2 Spacemen After Year Aloft: ‘We did it!’

Astronaut Scott Kelly closes the door Tuesday to an unprecedented year in space for NASA, flying back to the planet and loved ones he left behind last March.

In this June 14, 2015 photo made available by NASA, astronaut Scott Kelly makes a photo of himself as he prepares a scientific experiment on the International Space Station. Scott Kelly/NASA via AP

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.—Astronaut Scott Kelly closes the door Tuesday to an unprecedented year in space for NASA, flying back to the planet and loved ones he left behind last March.

Kelly and his roommate for the past 340 days, Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko, check out of the International Space Station on Tuesday night, U.S. time.

By the time their capsule lands in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, the pair will have traveled 144 million miles through space, circled the world 5,440 times and experienced 10,880 orbital sunrises and sunsets.

Astronaut Scott Kelly. AP Photo/Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center via NASA