Gabrielle Giffords' astronaut-husband Mark Kelly retires

William Atkins
Wednesday, 22 June 2011 22:36

Science - Space

Announced on June 21, 2011, Mark Kelly, commander of STS-134 that flew in May 2011, is retiring from NASA.

 

Before coming to NASA, Mark E. Kelly was a U.S. Navy captain and a naval aviator, flying missions during the Gulf War.

During his stint at NASA he flew four space shuttle missions: STS-108 (pilot) 2001, STS-121 (pilot) 2006, STS-124 (commander) 2008, and STS-134 (commander) 2011.

His final mission was commanding the space shuttle Discovery on its last mission into space, and as the next-to-last space shuttle mission for the United States.

According to the NASA article 'Astronaut Mark Kelly Announces Plans To Retire From NASA,' Charles Bolden, the NASA administrator, stated, "We salute Commander Mark Kelly and his contributions to NASA as an extremely accomplished member of the astronaut corps and the final commander of the space shuttle Endeavour.'

Bolden added, "We deeply respect his achievements and his decision to focus on his family. We continue to send out our thoughts and prayers to Mark and his wife, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, as she makes a remarkable recovery. We know that Mark will continue to do great things for his country no matter what he chooses to do next. He has helped us build a space program poised to take advantage of the many opportunities in our bright future."

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