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Bill Clark / Roll Call Photos
Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., center, she gives a tour of Statuary Hall in the Capitol to Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide and her husband, NASA astronaut Mark Kelly, in July 2008. Kelly is due to command a space shuttle mission in April.
Today's Arizona shooting is likely to have reverberations that extend beyond Earth, for personal as well as political reasons.
NASA astronaut Mark Kelly is the husband of one of the victims, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., and flew from Houston in the wake of the shooting to be at his wounded wife's side.
Kelly is currently in training to command the shuttle Endeavour's crew on a flight to the International Space Station in April. Endeavour is to bring up a $1.5 billion international physics experiment called the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, and as of now it would be the final mission of the 30-year space shuttle program. Congress has authorized another shuttle mission this summer on Atlantis, but the funding has not yet been set aside for that flight.
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden issued this statement in the wake of the shooting:
"We at NASA are deeply shocked and saddened by the senseless shooting of Representative Giffords and others at Saturday's public event in Tucson. As a longtime supporter of NASA, Representative Giffords not only has made lasting contributions to our country, but is a strong advocate for the nation's space program and a member of the NASA family. She also is a personal friend with whom I have had the great honor of working. We at NASA mourn this tragedy and our thoughts and prayers go out to Congresswoman Giffords, her husband Mark Kelly, their family, and the families and friends of all who perished or were injured in this terrible tragedy."
Will husband be grounded?
The space agency had no immediate word about how Kelly's status might change. In addition to being an astronaut, Kelly is a Navy captain who was a combat aviator during the first Gulf War.
"Normal practice in military flying is to ground a pilot who is undergoing severe family crisis, for a reasonable time," NBC News space analyst James Oberg observed in an e-mail. "Add to that — his wife now faces a long recovery, and his chances of being with her more than a few hours a week are slim to none, if he continues training. He could well request being replaced, perhaps by the commander of the STS-135 [Atlantis] mission that is to follow his flight. They could swap seats. Or he could figure he's had his fair share of flights and just stand down."
Kelly has two children from a previous marriage.
Mark Kelly is the only astronaut on the planet to have a twin brother who's also an spaceflier: Scott Kelly is currently serving as commander of the International Space Station, and sources said he was made aware of the shooting during Earth-to-orbit consultations.
Since taking command of the space station in November, Scott Kelly has been NASA's chief "Twitternaut" in orbit — and for the past few weeks he's been using Twitter to run a space-based geography contest. His Twitter nickname is @StationCDRKelly, and Mark Kelly's nickname is @ShuttleCDRKelly.
Scott Kelly commented on the day's events in an update posted to his Twitter and Facebook accounts:
"I want to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers, words of condolences and encouragement for the victims and their families of this horrific event. My sister-in-law, Gabrielle Giffords, is a kind, compassionate, brilliant woman, loved by friends and political adversaries alike — a true patriot. What is going on in our country that such a good person can be the subject of such senseless violence? ..."
"It's a sad day," the station commander wrote from space.
Astronauts in orbit have often had to deal with personal tragedies down on Earth. In 2007, for example, astronaut Daniel Tani was on the space station when his 90-year-old mother died in a traffic accident. Tani was told immediately, issued a statement expressing his grief and carried on. It was another two months before he was back on Earth.
Spacefliers are routinely asked before their launch whether they want to get tragic news immediately or be kept in the dark until their return to Earth. Most have been told immediately. But there are exceptions: In 1978, Soviet ground controllers did not inform cosmonaut Gyorgy Grechko about his father's death until his return from the Salyut 6 space station, two months later.
"I must admit that this news would have put me out of working form. I would have been half in space and half on Earth, beside my father's grave," Grechko said decades later. "So I guess I must acknowledge that while it seems inhumane, it was probably the right decision."
Involved in space policy
Giffords' ties to the space effort aren't merely personal. During the past congressional session, she chaired the House Science and Technology subcommittee that was most directly involved in setting space policy. She was an outspoken supporter of the Constellation program, NASA's in-house effort to develop spaceships that could replace the shuttle and eventually go to the moon. Under the Obama administration, Constellation was marked for cancellation, over Giffords' objections.
She spoke out against the NASA authorization bill that went through Congress before last November's election, and has voiced skepticism about plans to use commercial spacecraft to service the space station after the shuttles are retired this year. Giffords was expected to be the ranking minority member of the space subcommittee in the new Congress.
The Commercial Spaceflight Federation said its members were extending their thoughts and sympathies to Giffords and the other victims and their families, and passed along this quote from the federation's president, Bretton Alexander:
"This is an unimaginable tragedy, and our hearts go out to the victims of this attack. Congresswoman Giffords is a passionate supporter of the space program and NASA, and we wish her the best for a speedy and full recovery."
Congressional colleagues were quick to express their shock over today's shooting. Rep. Ralph Hall, R-Texas., the new chairman of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, issued this statement:
"I am shocked and saddened by this terrible news, and my prayers are with Gabrielle, her husband Astronaut Mark Kelly, her family, her staff, and all those who were injured and lost their lives and their families. Gabrielle has so many friends in Congress and is an outstanding Congresswoman for her district and for the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. I have been to her district with her to support solar energy and to the Cape with her to support the Shuttle flights. She is a wonderful person, and our prayers are with her, Captain Kelly, and the families of all the victims of this tragedy."
Another statement came from Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., who heads the Senate Commerce subcommittee on science and space and worked closely with Giffords on space policy:
"I am deeply saddened to learn of today's events in Tucson. My prayers go out to Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and all the victims, as well as to our NASA family, which includes her husband, who is training to be the next commander of the space shuttle mission slated for April, and her brother-in-law, who is currently serving aboard the International Space Station."
We have a Web page set aside for condolences in the wake of the shooting, but if you'd like to reflect specifically on the space angle of this tragedy, feel free to leave your comments below.
This posting was last updated at 4:15 a.m. ET Jan. 9.
Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page or following @b0yle on Twitter. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.
Leave a Comment:
"Mark Kelly is the only astronaut in history to have a twin brother who's also an spaceflier: Scott Kelly is currently serving as commander of the International Space Station."
Actually, there is another astronaut with a twin brother who's also a spaceflier: Scott Kelly.
AH HA Smart @$$ Steven
I really feel bad for Mark. He has such a wonderful life that many people would dream of having, but he was initially supposed to Pilot Discovery to the ISS and that got scrubbed, now his wife is nearly murdered. As they say at NASA - Godspeed her recovery.
I guess I should rephrase that ... Nice to have something that makes me smile on a day like this.
@Steven-2887969 - if you're going to correct someone, the least you could do is read the article carefully....it doesn't say Mark Kelly is "the only astronaut in history" - it says he is "the only astronaut on the planet"....which is correct, because his brother Scott is not currently on the planet. Kinda clever writing, I thought....NOT a mistake at all! :-[)
Y'know, Steven-2887969 - I'll bet you're more observant than I initially thought - I apologize! That clever Mr. Boyle probably corrected his original blog post, after your comment. At least he fixed it in a clever manner (he he). Glad to see he is so responsive to his readers. Keep up the good work, Mr Boyle (and Steven)!
Yes, you're right Spaceflightmarie ... I revised the reference ever so slightly.
I feel so sorry, sick really. That little girl, so senseless! So many lives, dreams lost, so much pain and suffering----running out of words and thoughts.......
SUCH FOOLS!!!! Time to grope and pat down the public!! .......as if this couldn't happen anywhere!!!!
There is always going to be some misdirected individual that wants to take matters into their own hands. One only has to think back to the murder of the Kennedy brothers, Martin Luther King, and John Lennon, or the rampages of Ted Kaczynski to see that pattern. In my opinion it is nearly impossible to protect people from this type of threat without giving up many of the rights and freedoms we have fought so hard to keep.
While we need to be aware and cognizant of the possible threat, we also need to be careful not to restrict access to our legislators too much, since they are our voice in Washington. My hope is that a positive lesson will be gleaned from this tragedy that will lead to better protection for our representatives while still allowing us to voice our opinions to them directly.
One thought is that although it may not provide as personable a meeting as a local gathering, our representatives could use more online chats and direct contact forums as virtual "Town Hall" meetings. This would allow their constituents an opportunity to voice their opinions and receive responses by providing an accessible platform while still protecting the person from face to face threats of violence.
One minor problem with the "online" format, you won't know if you are really chatting with your elected representative, or just some flunky filling in for them.
thank you for being a voice of reason. we have got to Protect evry one. However we can not make this a police state country. I was Just thinking of getting back involved in this country. even though I lost all my rights when an evil women killed my neigibor wife so she could merry him because h bought the very plot of land she wanted me to by and I said no. He had the right to that choice first. she hated me for giving it up to him freely. Sort of likr when Abruham gave Lot the first choice as to what land he chose I will chose what ever. I REALLY WISH THAT EVERY ONE WOULD TAKE THAT as an EGG/SAMPLE on how to cunduct our life. We do not need a PROMISED LAND this whole world and intire Universe is OUR LAND Pleant for every one as we all no that the stars out number even the dust of the earth. As it was said I will mutiply your seed all the way to the dust of this earth. Just think Maybe we all have our own planet set aside for us. Just as long we can pass the test on this planet. Please people grow up. I myself would rather die before I even own a gun. Nothing is that inportant in this life.
My ex used the courts and the law and the lawyers to sestematicly destroy my life and career. He is or was a Seattle Police office. When I tried to talk to his Seattle Police officer Caplian about what the police officer was Cuviting THEY neighbors wife. The Narcoleptic chaplin kept falling asleep om me talking with him to talk about what the officer was doing. Not only recking all that I worked for My third custome built home. and still that was not enough for that grubbing sick lady that would beat her daughter for the simpalist mistake.
I did not even think I should even merry her. because I had so much going in my life and even winning Quadrithons 3 years in a row. However she was over waight. did not know about computers or even how to buy a home. she was older then me and I helped her to understand the american Dream. Then she got even more greedy and I told her I need to leave. and she said. I will take you to court and take you for every thing I MYVERY SELF build Leagly. then she said "I got a kid!!! and they are going to believe me. When I never did anything to her doughter. to the very part that her daughter and friends all wanted to become Vegitarian.
So regardless I was systemmaticaly destroied from all my rights and caricture and cast out of my own house with a restraining order. WE do not really have any rights in this world even when someone makes an aqusation. You are compleatly destroyed. I do not even care to live on this planet, and would be the first to volinter to go to mars on a one way trip. Now the real funny thing... Is I do know how Politics work and it is so quince that 4 cops got shot from someone that was released. We all know hoe a potentional polotition will clean up his past by eliminating those that may no his past. so when Officer GILL GER/LICK/COWS/KEY WILL TRY AND KEEP HIS PLACE IN A POSTION HE DOES NOT DESERVE.
I am so sick and tired of stupid idiots that open there mouth without having there 7 ps lined up. Proper. Previes PLANNING prevents!!!!!! piss poor preformance. That stupid jerk that opens mpouth with out properly planning his coments is sicking to me.
you can NOT THROUGH out the baby with the bathwater. I sure hope you really know what statment means? We all know that we now have video conferncing on even the MS cell phone face to face.
Can I respectfuly ask that those poeple that just open there mouth to talk at least Have enough braines to also know when to shut up
HUH???
The book of Ezekiel says in chapter 7 verse 23 Make a chain for the land is full of bloody crimes, and the city is full of violence. In the book of Danial chapter 12 verse 1 says There shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation. The Honorable Minister Farrakhan teaches us that we are in the changing of worls, so why these recent events that have taken place, are very tragic and sad. The prophets have predicted that these things would happen, and they are just a sign of what is to come. As salaam Alaikum(peace be unto you)
Such ambiguity and vagueness, and even less of thoughtfulness or real solutions. Real phophets you refer to are not. If they know so much, then why can't they give us times, places, dates? Fool.
Bro: Go away, weirdo!
They got nothing on nostradamus.
An electronic town hall would be O.K. as long as those running it weren't allowed to block/edit without everyone being able to see what they were up to. Not that I don't distrust politicians or the Media, of course, but I remember the dirty tricks the Media pulled during the Nixon/Kennedy debates.
My thoughts and prayers go out to her family on this sad occasion and hope they catch the one who did it
The shooter was caught immediately. Several bystanders actually tackled him to the ground.
Chris: "Only one person can decide whether or not he will be in good enough mental shape to command that mission: Mark Kelly."
No, Chris, it doesn't work that way. Often the person under severe stress doesn't recognize its impact on their decision-making. They are the last ones qualified to make the decision.
Let's all hope that his wife's recovery is swift, and the issue may become moot.
There's a bigger human dilemma here. Twice, to my knowledge, in the history of human spaceflight, an astronaut has declined a flight assignment in order to remain attentive to a seriously ill spouse (in both occasions, the spouse died within months). To my mind that showed immense character and grace, especially in a culture where space flight is the ultimate goal. These two people were human beings first, and astronauts second. Attaboy to the memories of both (one has already also died of natural causes).
This question will sort itself out in the weeks ahead, there's time to reach and implement a safe decision. For now, it's only a distraction from a still-developing tragedy -- I heard tonight that two of the wounded remain so far unidentified, and an additional suspect is still being sought.
Dealing with this tragedy from space must be extremely difficult. The outpouring of support for Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and the other victims of this senseless act may provide some comfort. I share in the grief that all good folks feel on this sad day.
When I read on iPod the alert Congresswoman Giffords got shot then read she was married to Kelly, I immediately jumped up out of my bed trying to find out which brother she was married to praying she didn't die and that it wasn't the brother at the ISS she was married to. I remember when Astronaut Tani's mother died and he was at the ISS. I thought that was the most screwed up thing ever. I can't even begin to fathom the scenario of future astronauts heading to Mars and a loved one dies here on Earth.
God Speed Recovery, Healing, and Comfort. Decades ago, I watched rockets launch and break the sky. Pride and spirit, along with love for my parents who took us there, has never left my memory.
Long live America's intelligent gun laws. Republican red necks!
Gun laws have nothing to do with this. If it wasn't a gun, it would be a kitchen knife or pipe bomb. You can't legislate away insane people.
I hope she survives and thrives past this. It's a tragedy.
Gun laws have EVERYTHING to do with this. Wayne LaPierre put the gun in his hands. Why do you think George H.W. Bush turned in his NRA card?
Keep in mind the NRA is not about owning guns. It's about selling them. You think the NRA makes enough from annual membership fees to throw that kind of money at elections?
They've brainwashed a lot of otherwise reasonably intelligent people into believing that were it not for the NRA, there would be no private firearms. There will always be extreme views - there are those who believe that we should do away with cars, but the LA freeways aren't full of bicycles; PETA doesn't believe we should have pets, but last I checked, no black helicopter has come for my dog.
Let's all grow up...
My heartfelt best to Mark and the family, and my hopes for a successful recovery for his wonderful wife. May God bless you all.
Mulligan1 ??? I have lots of guns. I don't ever want to shoot anyone. If some moron comes into my home or threatens me with lethal force they will get shot. What are you going to do? say "Please stop, i don't believe in guns..." get a clue.
I hope she has a full recovery, Prayers for the others family's, for the shooter, a speedy trial and a faster execution.
Look fool...you are so self centered. You really should learn to get out of your box and take a good look
around. These kind of people are everywhere. Criminals are everywhere and wouldn't hesitate to kill. It's mind boggling nothing has changed much with gun laws since the Columbine massacre. That event should have even touched the NRA but..NO..not even that !
mike-428331
Yes, killers are everywhere. Some teenagers killed a homeless man with baseball bats not too far from where I live. 42,000 people die a year from auto accidents, some caused by substance abuse, some by fatigue, some by road rage. Thousands and thousands die from tobacco use. Abuse of prescription drugs kill 7 a DAY in my home state. YES, OUTLAW EVERYTHING! As Bugs would say: "What a Maroon!"
A sad occaision for sure. My sympathies go out to the victims and the wounded as well as their friends and families.
To those who cry there ought to be a law we as a people should be saying there ought to not have to be a law. Guns don't kill people, not even automatic weapons, people kill people. A loaded gun of any type will sit on a table for 1000 years and never kill anyone. It requires a warped human being to pick it up before it can harm a soul. It is people that need to change, attitudes need to change. Honor, integrity, and character are rapidly becoming rare commodities in todays society. Until these values are instilled in our young people and todays adults start to lead by example i'm afraid this kind of behavior will only continue to become more commonplace. The loss of the above mentioned core values is the decline of society.
Take the time to teach your kids to always do the right thing even when it's harder than doing the wrong thing. Teach them that charachter is doing the right thing even when no one is watching. Teach them to honor their parents and others and to respect other's property. And lastly, parents, lead by example.
Hoping for a speedy recovery for those wounded and comfort and solace for the families of those who weren't as fortunate.
My condolences to all the victims of this tragedy. Sad to see that civil servants and children have to die in our modern society from a few hundred dollars gun. I hope the congresswoman makes a full recovery as well as other wounded and that they get the best medical minds' care we have in this society. I wish strenght to Mr. Kelly and all family members of the dead and wounded for what they are going through. I wonder how astronauts feel about humanity from a detached orbital perspective. Do they feel their life's work, efforts and sacrifices up there or for up there are worth it considering what goes on down here? I hope a lot of good change comes out of this tragedy. it is time to melt some metal. is is time to support our space program. it is time people respect each other more.
hello to my american cousins-i am age 74-busy with international projects-son of ww1,ww2 senior rcaf group catain[died 1986]every day there is another tragedy-it seems-whenn these young killers age-they will then realize the extrent of the misery due to their mindless actions-we have gutterrats,drifters,narcos everywhere-the only way to stop this is education-plus closing down of all private weapon shops-here in canada you must register you weapon-i have hunted moose,bison,geese-but never trapped[totally inhumane]let us pray constantly for all those injured in this sensless tragedy-this couple are great americans-it is very,very sad to think she maybe unable to recover long term-as usual-msnbc.com do a great humantarian job-
Hang tough Mark, your lady needs you now, more than ever. God Bless.
Do you people really think that criminals buy guns from dealers? I wish life could be as simple as you think! Melt metal? You get the prize for most stupid
what a quinky/dink Obama has shut down our oil drilling our hosbitles our insurence our banks our water and now he has his excuse to take OUR VERY OWN SPACE I have to hand it to them for such a beautiful laied out chess game of being able to go in and have a coo with out even a shot fired in the war machine. Just killing the inocents. and that will way on his soul even heaver then his justified killing of military might. get a clue people has anyone did a face overlay on OSOMA AND OBOMA ( CAN ANYONE SAY "HIDDEN TWINN" (i CALL CHECK) AND YOU KNOW THAT i WILL NOT CALL CHECK. TILL i KNOW i HAVE YOU IN (MATE) AND YOU HAVE NOT EVEN SEEN OR KNOW ALL OF MY PEACES THAT ARE ON THE BOARD. pLEASE DO NOT CALL MY HAND. oR i WILL HAVE TO USE MY ELECTRONIC LIGHT sWORD sABOR. pLEASE DO NOT TEST IT.
ONCE THEY GET KNOWLEDGE OF WERE i LIVE AND HOW TO DISRUPT MY LAPTOP they will try to block my WORDs so read as much as fast as you can before we then lose our freedom to be HEARD.
i JUST WANT TO ASK ONE QUESTION hAS ANYONE FIGURED IT OUT? (O/SOM/A O/BOM/A oSOMA( I) OBOMA O Som of All (to O Bom u all. is anyone even have therre eyes open? or all stuck on stupid
the other question is... do you not wonder why the CIA and FBI AND even the homas is in a state of panic. and the WORD still comes in from above?
Just rembe L Ron Hubbered has been on the wanted list in america and has disapeard. Why was that?? he know how the medical world will start drugging our kids through the school. and dumb them down so uch that only the rich can aford the mathnazion. hooked on fonics. I spelled it wrong intenchanaly Sylivan learning. Hmmmm why can only the rich pay for that special edgucation that works better then the public schools?
They are sending out some of the greates codes in the simpalist movies to the other side and most can not even see how they are trancfering hidden codes even in the movies that are being made. Propiganda is trully well deeply intrenched.
Just rember a man IS only as good as HIS / WORD what is your word?
Rember when General Mc/AUTHER GAVE HIS word THAT HE WOULD BE BACK? tHAT IS WHAT WON THE INSPERATION OF THE PEOPLE. By returning to the front men that make the operations work. from hotels to hospitals and goverments as well as the janitorsa need front line SUPPORT Do you also know (who) r u els made that promise?