Commander Mark Kelly aboard Discovery in June 2008. Photo Credit/NASA photo
Veteran astronaut Mark Kelly will remain in command of NASA’s final scheduled shuttle flight, Endeavour’s 14-day assembly mission to the International Space Station, which is currently scheduled for an April 19 lift off.
Kelly is the husband of Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who suffered a gun shot injury at a Jan. 8 political rally in Tucson.
NASA Chief Astronaut Peggy Whitson and Kelly announced their much anticipated decision about Kelly’s future participation in the mission on Friday.
Kelly, who has been on personal leave since the shooting, will resume training with his five veteran crew members on Feb. 7. Endeavour’s crew will deliver and equip the space station with the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, a $2 billion external astronomical observatory for studies of dark matter and cosmic rays.
“We have been preparing for 18 months, and we will be ready to deliver the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer to the International Space Station and complete the other objectives of the flight,” said Kelly. “I appreciate the confidence that my NASA management has in me and the rest of my space shuttle crew.”
“He is a veteran shuttle commander and knows well the demands of the job,” said Whitson. “We are confident in his ability to successfully lead this mission, and I know I speak for all of NASA in saying, ‘welcome back.’”
On Jan. 13, NASA announced that Frederick “Rick” Sturckow, the Deputy Chief Astronaut, would serve as a backup until NASA officials and Kelly reached a decision on his future participation in the lengthy mission.
Kelly’s twin brother, Scott, is the current commander of the space station. He, too, offered a vote of confidence in his brother during an interview on Thursday.
“He’s doing the best anyone could do in this situation,” Scott Kelly said of his brother. The two speak daily by internet phone.
“If he does choose and NASA management chooses for him to fly this mission, I’m absolutely, 100 percent confident that he will have no problem fulfilling his responsibilities the same way as if this incident had never occurred,” said Scott Kelly.
The station commander is scheduled to return to Earth aboard a Russian Soyuz on March 16.
Giffords was transferred from the University Medical Center in Tucson to the Texas Institute for Research and Rehabilitation in Houston on Jan. 21. Though she’s making strides, medical experts say she faces a lengthy rehabilitation.
Mark Kelly and Giffords married in 2007.
