PBS will broadcast Beyond a Year in Space, follow-up documentary to 2016’s A Year In Space special in November of 2017. The two specials, adapted from Time’s original digital video series about astronaut Scott Kelly’s 12-month stay on the International Space Station (ISS), explore the human limitations for space travel and what a mission to Mars will require. Beyond a Year in Space picks up where the first film left off: Scott Kelly’s last day in space and return to Earth. The final installment also introduces viewers to the next generation of astronauts training to leave Earth’s orbit and travel into deep space.
Kelly’s year in space is the longest space mission in American history. In addition to seeing Scott’s long-awaited reunion with his family and friends at home in Texas, the film follows Scott and his identical twin brother, and fellow astronaut, Mark Kelly, as they undergo testing for NASA’s twin study. The twin study hopes to identify precisely what changes Scott underwent after 12 months aboard the ISS by comparing him to Mark, who spent the year on Earth. The data NASA aims to gain from this study will help scientists understand what it will take for humans to endure long-duration space travel.
