spacetoday.net: Astronaut Mark Kelly to retire

Astronaut Mark Kelly to retire

Posted: Wed, Jun 22, 2011, 7:31 AM ET (1131 GMT)
Kelly, Mark (NASA)

Mark Kelly, the NASA astronaut who commanded the most recent shuttle mission and is married to congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, announced on Tuesday his plans to retire. Kelly announced via social media that he would retire from both NASA and the US Navy on October 1. Kelly has been an astronaut for 15 years, and flew on four shuttle missions, two as pilot and two as commander. Most recently he commanded STS-134, the final flight of the space shuttle Endeavour and the next-to-last shuttle mission. Kelly has not disclosed his future plans beyond spending time with his wife, who is continuing her recovery from a near-fatal shooting in January, and working together on a memoir.