According to the commander of the final Space Shuttle launch planned for April 19th, the mission with him onboard is a go!
Mark Kelly is the husband of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot in the head last month during a failed assassination attempt in her district in Tucson, AZ. But Mark Kelly is also a NASA astronaut and was slated to command this final shuttle launch of the space program — that is until his wife was injured and hospitalized.
Kelly has been at his wife’s bedside since the attack and had to consider if several days in space and away from her side was in the best interest of his family as well as the space program. But on Friday and with Giffords health dramatically improving daily, Kelly decided to press forward with his original plans to head into space.
“I know her very well and she would be very comfortable with the decision that I made,” Kelly said. In fact, Kelly believes his wife’s progress has been so significant, he fully intends for her to be at Cape Canaveral, Fla., for liftoff of Endeavor’s final launch.
“I have every intention that she’ll be there for launch. I’ve talked to her doctors about that,” he said.
I heard on the news he thinks she is getting better and wants her at the launch. If thats true it's a miracle.