Twin brothers Scott Kelly and Mark Kelly will take part in an unusual experiment that will focus on the effects of spaceflight on the human body, the Associated Press reported.

NASA announced plans Friday to explore a new frontier by conducting its first-ever twin astronaut study.  The experiment, which will span an entire year, as opposed to the typical mission of about six months, will involve a total of 10 investigations that will explore the effects of spaceflight on humans, The Guardian reported.

"We realized this is a unique opportunity to perform a class of novel studies because we had one twin flying aboard the International Space Station and one twin on the ground," Craig Kundrot, deputy chief scientist in NASA's Human Research Program, said in a statement. "We can study two individuals who have the same genetics, but are in different environments for one year."

For the mission, Scott Kelly will undertake a one-year mission to the International Space Station (ISS) in March 2015, while his twin sibling, retired astronaut Mark Kelly - and husband to former U.S. Rep Gabrielle Giffords - will remain on Earth to serve as the experimental control group.

The study on the twin astronauts, which will be handled through NASA's Human Research program, will look for differences in the twins on the molecular level, in the bacteria that live in their gut, in their overall physical bodies, and also in their behavioral thinking.

"These studies will look at the way genes in the cells are turned on and off as a result of spaceflight; and how stressors like radiation, confinement and microgravity prompt changes in the proteins and metabolites gathered in biological samples like blood, saliva, urine and stool," NASA said in a statement.

The study will help NASA better understand and prepare for the health impacts of living in space for an extended time.