Mark Edward Kelly is an American politician, former astronaut, and retired U.S. Navy captain. Kelly flew combat missions during the Gulf War as a naval aviator, before being selected as a NASA Space Shuttle pilot in 1996. His identical twin Scott Kelly is also a retired astronaut; they are the only siblings to have both traveled in space. He has logged more than 5,000 hours in more than 50 different aircraft and has over 375 carrier landings.
About Mark Kelly in brief
Mark Edward Kelly is an American politician, former astronaut, and retired U. S. Navy captain. He was sworn in on December 2, 2020 after winning the 2020 special election. Kelly flew combat missions during the Gulf War as a naval aviator, before being selected as a NASA Space Shuttle pilot in 1996. Kelly’s identical twin Scott Kelly is also a retired astronaut; they are the only siblings to have both traveled in space. He has logged more than 5,000 hours in more than 50 different aircraft and has over 375 carrier landings. Kelly has received two Defense Superior Service Medals; one Legion of Merit; two Distinguished Flying Crosses; four Air Medals with Combat \”V\”; two Navy Commendation Medals, ; one Navy Achievement Medal; one Navy Expeditionary Medal; two Sea Service Deployment Ribbons; a NASA Distinguished Service Medal; and an Overseas Service Ribbon. His wife, then-Arizona Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, was shot and nearly killed in an assassination attempt on January 8, 2011. After the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting the next year, Kelly founded the nonprofit Americans for Responsible Solutions, campaigning for universal background checks and red flag laws before Kelly decided to pursue elected office. His retirement was announced on his Facebook page, where he wrote, “Words cannot convey my deep gratitude for the opportunities I have been given to serve our great nation” He is the son of Richard and Patricia Kelly, two retired police officers.
He is of Irish descent. Kelly graduated from Mountain High School in 1982. He received a Bachelor of Science in marine engineering and nautical science from the United States Merchant Marine Academy, graduating with highest honors in 1986. In 1994, he received a Master of Science in aeronautical engineering from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School. He joined the NASA Astronaut Corps in August of that year. Mark Kelly has logged over 54 days in space, and is the only brother and sister to have ever been to space. His first space mission was on December 5, 2001, on the final mission of STS-108. After several delays, Endeavour lifted off on December 8, 2001. The crew officially ended their residency on the ISS on December 7, 2011, enabling the crew to greet one another on the station. The hatches were opened between the ISS and the Endeavor and the Destiny Destiny Laboratory on December 9, 2012. On December 10, 10 crew members were transferred to their custom seat on the Soyuz for their final mission on December 11, 2012, as their Soyuz seat for the ISS was ready to go into service. The mission was scheduled to end on December 12, 2012 but was delayed until December 13, 2013. Kelly was selected to be the pilot of the Space Shuttle EndEavour for the mission to the ISS. He flew his first space missions in 2001 as pilot of STs-108, piloted STS -121 in 2006, and commanded STS in 2008 and STS 124 in 2008.
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This page is based on the article Mark Kelly published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 03, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
