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)

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.


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​