U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords is married to Mark
Kelly, a veteran astronaut who is scheduled to
command the planned April 1 launch of
Endeavour to the International Space Station.
The Endeavour crew aims to deliver a large
cosmic ray detector that will be mounted outside
the outpost.
NASA said that at the time of Saturday's shooting
Kelly was "on personal, off-duty time."
SHOOTING: Congresswoman shot, at least 5
others killed
GABRIELLE GIFFORDS: Who is she?
PHOTOS: Images from Giffords' career, the Jan.
8 shooting
VIDEO: Latest on Tucson shooting
Giffords and Kelly, a Navy captain, were married
in November 2007, and in the following year,
Kelly, 46, became the first astronaut to fly in
space while married to an active member of
Congress.
Kelly also commanded NASA's second post-
Columbia shuttle test flight in 2006. Kelly also
piloted a space station crew rotation mission in
2001.
Kelly and his brother, Scott Kelly, also a Navy
captain, became the first and only twins to be
selected to the astronaut corps in April 1996.
Scott Kelly currently is commander of the
International Space Station.
NASA Chief Astronaut Peggy Whitson informed
Scott Kelly of the shooting on a private space-to-
ground communications channel shortly after the
news broke.
Giffords, D-Ariz., is a member of the House space
and aeronautics subcommittee and is an ardent
supporter of NASA programs, particularly its
human space flight program.
Giffords was a strong proponent of Project
Constellation, the NASA return-to-the-moon
program that was canceled by the Obama
administration. She rallied against the idea of
shifting the responsibility for launching astronauts
into low Earth orbit to commercial companies
that have yet to develop the means to do so.
Congress subsequently authorized NASA to
proceed with investments in the development of
commercial crew transportation while still
funding a government-developed spacecraft —
dubbed Orion — as a backup. NASA also was
directed to design and develop a super-sized
rocket that could launch the Orion on missions
beyond Earth orbit.
Congress still must appropriate money for
NASA's 2011 budget.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights
reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Source: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2011-01-08-giffords-husband-kelly_N.htm
Kelly, a veteran astronaut who is scheduled to
command the planned April 1 launch of
Endeavour to the International Space Station.
The Endeavour crew aims to deliver a large
cosmic ray detector that will be mounted outside
the outpost.
NASA said that at the time of Saturday's shooting
Kelly was "on personal, off-duty time."
SHOOTING: Congresswoman shot, at least 5
others killed
GABRIELLE GIFFORDS: Who is she?
PHOTOS: Images from Giffords' career, the Jan.
8 shooting
VIDEO: Latest on Tucson shooting
Giffords and Kelly, a Navy captain, were married
in November 2007, and in the following year,
Kelly, 46, became the first astronaut to fly in
space while married to an active member of
Congress.
Kelly also commanded NASA's second post-
Columbia shuttle test flight in 2006. Kelly also
piloted a space station crew rotation mission in
2001.
Kelly and his brother, Scott Kelly, also a Navy
captain, became the first and only twins to be
selected to the astronaut corps in April 1996.
Scott Kelly currently is commander of the
International Space Station.
NASA Chief Astronaut Peggy Whitson informed
Scott Kelly of the shooting on a private space-to-
ground communications channel shortly after the
news broke.
Giffords, D-Ariz., is a member of the House space
and aeronautics subcommittee and is an ardent
supporter of NASA programs, particularly its
human space flight program.
Giffords was a strong proponent of Project
Constellation, the NASA return-to-the-moon
program that was canceled by the Obama
administration. She rallied against the idea of
shifting the responsibility for launching astronauts
into low Earth orbit to commercial companies
that have yet to develop the means to do so.
Congress subsequently authorized NASA to
proceed with investments in the development of
commercial crew transportation while still
funding a government-developed spacecraft —
dubbed Orion — as a backup. NASA also was
directed to design and develop a super-sized
rocket that could launch the Orion on missions
beyond Earth orbit.
Congress still must appropriate money for
NASA's 2011 budget.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights
reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Source: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2011-01-08-giffords-husband-kelly_N.htm
0 comments:
Post a Comment