Scott Kelly, rear center, is surrounded by his five U.S., Russian and Italian crewmates aboard the International Space Station. Photo Credit/NASA photo
The tragic shooting of Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords has brought NASA astronauts Scott and Mark Kelly closer together in ways neither of the 46-year-old twins could scarcely imagine.
Giffords, Mark Kelly’s wife, was among 19 people killed or wounded during a Jan. 8 shooting rampage at a Tucson political rally. She’s making a remarkable recovery from a gun shot wound to the head at a Tucson medical center.
Mark, who was assigned to command NASA’s final scheduled shuttle mission aboard Endeavour in the spring, remains at his wife’s side.
Scott is serving as commander of the International Space Station and not scheduled to return to Earth until March 18.
The brothers recounted the events surrounding the tragedy for ABC’s Primetime, which the network plans to broadcast late Jan. 18.
“We are optimistic about her outcome,” Scott Kelly told ABC News early Tuesday in back-to-back interviews with the network’s Houston affiliate, KTRK-TV. The brothers have been speaking privately at least twice a day since the shootings over the station’s Internet protocol telephone.
“I think he is coping as well as you can in this type of situation,” said Scott of his brother. “Certainly, it’s very very difficult. He’s doing as well as you could expect anyone to do.”
Mark Kelly aboard 2008 space shuttle mission. Photo Credit/NASA Photo
Mark was interviewed separately by ABC for Primetime.
The Kellys are close. They grew up in New Jersey and became Naval aviators and test pilots. The twins were selected for astronaut training in 1996 and until late last year appeared destined to meet together in orbit, Scott as the station’s skipper, and Mark as Edeavour’s commander. However, problems with shuttle Discovery’s fuel tank created a ripple effect that nudged Endeavour’s mission from late February to early and then late April.
In the aftermath of the Tucson shootings, NASA assigned another astronaut so serve as Mark’s backup, should he be unable to lead Endeavour’s 14-day mission to the space station.
“I don’t know,” Scott told interviewers when asked to speculate on whether his brother will make the mission.
“It’s possible, and it’s also possible he might not. It’s a decision he will make in consultation with the Astronaut Office and other folks at NASA. There are a lot of things to consider, but I think he will make the right decision. I think he will also weigh what Gabby would want in this scenario. I think we will know something within a few weeks.”
Scott said he was informed immediately of the rampage by Mission Control and NASA’s chief astronaut Peggy Whitson, including later discounted rumors that his sister-in-law had perished in surgery.
He asked Mission Control to provide as much continuous televised news coverage as possible. The near continuous streaming continued until early this week, when Giffords was taken off a ventilator as her condition improved from critical to serious.
The station’s commander said it has been difficult to be isolated and unable to join Giffords, his brother and their children during the difficult period.
“Certainly, I would prefer to be there with Gabby and my brother and other friends and family,” said Scott. “I recognize the best thing I can do, which is here on the space station, is to just continue to do my job as best I know how and then support my brother from here, which is with frequent phone calls. These are the cards we were dealt, and we have to live with them.”
Scott said the tragedy of the Arizona shootings extends well beyond Giffords and his brother to the other victims and their families. In the first days after the shooting, the station skipper implored Americans to do a better job of settling their differences and working together to overcome the nation’s many difficulties.
“Our country faces a lot of challenges, we face a lot of challenge in the space program. The way we overcome those is through teamwork,” Scott told ABC. “In America today, we need to show more team work. It will help us not only get past things like this, but see a better future not only for ourselves but our children and those who come after us.”
