spacetoday.net: Mark Kelly to remain STS-134 commander

Posted: Sat, Feb 5, 2011, 9:58 AM ET (1458 GMT)
Kelly, Mark (NASA)

NASA announced Friday that Mark Kelly, whose wife was shot four weeks ago, will remain commander of the STS-134 shuttle mission scheduled for launch in April. Kelly's place on the shuttle mission was in question when his wife, Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, was critically wounded on January 8 by a gunman in Tucson who killed six other people. Kelly told reporters Friday that he initially expected to be unable to command the mission, but Giffords's rapid recovery and ongoing rehabilitation in a Houston hospital led him to conclude that he would be able to resume training for the mission. NASA had made contingency plans, including naming a backup mission commander, but agreed to keep Kelly on the mission, with training scheduled to resume on Monday. Kelly will commander Endeavour on the STS-134 mission to the ISS, scheduled for launch on April 19.