Scott Kelly, a West Orange astronaut, returned to earth after a year of staying in outer space for his 340-day mission. Mayor Rob Parisi said they plan to "roll out the red carpet" to honor Kelly.
"We remember Scott as an incredibly hardworking and dedicated person," said Parisi. "We're not surprised he's made history becoming the first American astronaut to complete a full year in space and we're extremely proud of him."
Kelly serves as an inspiration for local school children. He returned to the country on Wednesday and received national and local praises, as reported by Tap Into Clark.
President Obama tweeted his wishes to Kelly after his mission in space.
Welcome back to Earth, @StationCDRKelly! Your year in space is vital to the future of American space travel. Hope gravity isn't a drag!
— President Obama (@POTUS) March 2, 2016
"l look forward to working with the Chamber of Commerce, the Pleasant Valley Civic Association and the community on a Pleasant Valley Way parade to honor Commander Kelly," said Susan McCartney, a West Orange Councilwoman.
Kelly is going back home to his two daughters; his girlfriend who works as public affairs officer at NASA, Johnson Space Center; his twin brother Captain Mark Kelly, a United States Navy combat veteran and retired NASA astronaut and Mark's wife, Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.
Scott had a hectic schedule doing experiments, spaceship maintenance and spacewalks during his stay in space. His year-long stay is a record-breaking mission and aimed to give an important data to know how to keep astronauts healthy during long space travel.
"The only big surprise was how long a year is," Scott said Friday, three days after returning to Earth from the longest stint anyone has ever spent on the International Space Station. "It seemed like I'd lived there forever," according to USA Today.
Scott is the U.S record-holder for the "longest cumulative time in space" and "longest single stay in orbit of any American astronaut." These feats were only endured by some Russian and Soviet cosmonaut.
Scott does not want to be sent back to space again, especially now that there are other astronauts waiting to fly. However, he wants to return someday probably with a company which is developing an out of space tour.
