Video: Monkey business aboard space station

CAPE CANAVERAL (FOX 13) - Astronaut Scott Kelly has now spent nearly a full year aboard the International Space Station, so perhaps he should be forgiven if he takes a moment or two to monkey around -- literally.

The veteran astronaut's twin brother Mark -- himself an astronaut -- shared a video Tuesday that shows some of the lighter moments aboard the space station.  An astronaut, presumably Scott Kelly, pops out of a floating cargo bag in a full gorilla suit and proceeds to chase British astronaut Tim Peake through the station's modules.

"Needed a little humor to lighten up a #YearInSpace. Go big, or go home. I think I'll do both," he explained in a tweet, adding the hashtag "#SpaceApe."

Mark Kelly sent the suit up to the space station aboard the Cygnus cargo container that launched in December.  He also took to Twitter to enjoy the gift.

"Um, @StationCDRKelly, I thought you said you had things under control up there," he joked.

Of course, there have been plenty of famous -- and infamous -- primates in space through the years.  The first American rockets carried rhesus monkeys and chimps, not humans.  Then there's always the apes from '2001: A Space Odyssey' and, of course, 'Planet of the Apes.'

On a more serious note, Kelly and his year-in-space partner, cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko, are due to return to Earth next week.