Mark Kelly

Personal Data Mark Edward Kelly is the son of Richard and Patricia Kelly two retired police officers  He was born in Orange New Jersey on February 21 1964 and raised in West Orange New Jersey Kelly is married to US Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords  Kellys identical twin brother Scott J Kelly is also an astronaut and served as commander of International Space Station ISS Expedition 26 The Kelly brothers are the only siblings who have both traveled in space Kelly graduated from Mountain High School in 1982 He received a BS degree in marine engineering and nautical science from the United States Merchant Marine Academy graduating with highest honors in 1986 In 1994 he received an MS degree in aeronautical engineering from the US Naval Postgraduate School Awards Defense Superior Service Medal with one bronze oak leaf cluster Distinguished Flying Cross Air Medal with valor device and three bronze service stars Navy Commendation Medal with valor device and one bronze service star Navy Achievement Medal Southwest Asia Service Medal with one bronze service star Navy Expeditionary Medal National Defense Service Medal with one bronze service star Navy Unit Commendation with one bronze service star Sea Service Deployment Ribbon with one bronze service star Overseas Service Ribbon Kuwait Liberation Medal Saudi Arabia Kuwait Liberation Medal Kuwait NASA Exceptional Service Medal NASA Space Flight Medal with three bronze service stars Experience In December 1987 Kelly became a naval aviator and received initial training on the A6E Intruder attack aircraft He was then assigned to VA115 Attack Squadron 115 in Atsugi Japan and made two deployments to the Persian Gulf on the aircraft carrier USS Midway flying 39 combat missions in Operation Desert Storm After receiving his masters degree he attended the US Naval Test Pilot School from June 1993 to June 1994 He has logged more than 5000 hours in more than 50 different aircraft and has over 375 carrier landings At this time Kelly remains on active duty He is on loan to NASA and holds the rank of Captain in the US Navy On Tuesday June 21 2011 Kelly announced his retirement from the US Navy and NASA effective October 1 2011   Spaceflight Experience Kellys first trip into space was as pilot of STS108 After several delays Endeavour lifted off on December 5 2001 on the final shuttle mission of 2001 STS108 Endeavour visited the ISS delivering over three tons of equipment supplies and a fresh crew to the orbiting outpost Kelly and Mission Specialist Linda Godwin used the shuttles robotic arm to lift the Raffaello MultiPurpose Logistics Module from the shuttle payload bay and attach it to a berth on the stations Unity node Mission managers extended Endeavours flight duration to 12 days to allow the crew to assist with additional maintenance tasks on the station including work on a treadmill and replacing a failed compressor in one of the air conditioners in the Zvezda Service Module  Kelly traveled over 48 million miles and orbited the earth 186 times over 11 days and 19 hours