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Scott Kelly: Astronaut and Space Ape


In this image from video made available by NASA on Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2016, astronaut Scott Kelly wears a gorilla costume in the International Space Station. (NASA via AP)
In this image from video made available by NASA on Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2016, astronaut Scott Kelly wears a gorilla costume in the International Space Station. (NASA via AP)
Scott Kelly: Astronaut and Space Ape
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This is What’s Trending Today.

On Thursday, American astronaut Scott Kelly held his last press conference from the International Space Station. His historic #yearinspace is coming to an end.

But, in a new video, Kelly looks nothing like an astronaut. He was in disguise. The astronaut was wearing a gorilla costume that his brother sent him.

His fellow crew members on the International Space Station did not expect Kelly’s “monkeying around.” In the video, a crew member opens a large box, and Kelly jumps out in a full-body gorilla costume. He then chases the crew members as they float around the International Space Station.

Scott Kelly posted the video on his Facebook page. He wrote, “Needed a little humor to lighten up a #YearinSpace. Go big, or go home. I think I’ll do both! #SpaceApe.”

More than 560,000 people have watched the Space Ape video. The popular and funny video made Scott Kelly a trending topic on Facebook.

Over on Twitter, the brother responsible for the gorilla costume, astronaut Mark Kelly, had this to say: "I thought you said you had things under control up there....#ApeinSpace."

And that’s What’s Trending Today.

I’m Ashley Thompson.

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Words in This Story

disguise - n. clothes or other things that you wear so that people will not recognize you

gorilla - n. a type of very large ape that has black fur and that comes from Africa

monkey around - idiom. to do random, unplanned work or activities

ape - n. a type of animal (such as a chimpanzee or gorilla) that is closely related to monkeys and humans and that is covered in hair and has no tail or a very short tail​

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