April 22, 2015     15-070

Where over the world is NASA astronaut Scott Kelly? Kelly, who is working and living aboard the International Space Station on a one-year mission, wants to test your knowledge of the world with a geography trivia game on Twitter.

The first person to correctly identify the place depicted in his photos will win a copy of the picture signed by Kelly after he returns to Earth in March 2016. Kelly’s first game post is on Earth Day, April 22, and he plans to continue the game for the duration of his mission.

To see the first post, get updates from Kelly about his mission, and play Geography Trivia from Space, follow him on Twitter at:

http://www.twitter.com/StationCDRKelly

Kelly launched to the space station along with Russian cosmonauts Mikhail Kornienko and Gennady Padalka on March 27. Kelly and Kornienko are spending one year in space, twice the typical mission duration, to provide researchers the opportunity to advance their knowledge of the medical, psychological and biomedical challenges faced by astronauts during long duration spaceflight, in addition to developing countermeasures that would reverse those effects.

During Kelly's stay on station, part of his job is to capture a kaleidoscope of geographic locations for scientific analysis of our planet. The orbiting outpost and its six crew members circle Earth 16 times each day, traveling more than 200 miles above Earth at 17,500 mph.

"Expanding our geography knowledge is essential to our economic well-being, our relationships with other nations and the environment," Kelly said. "It helps us make sense of our world and allows us to make connections between people and places. Space exploration is a global endeavor, and the International Space Station is the result of these connections."