Mark Kelly has two children from a previous marriage. Both were selected as astronaut candidates for NASA in April 1996. His brother, Scott Kelly, is also a NASA astronaut, and returned in March from a six-month stint aboard the International Space Station. The couple married in 2007 at an organic produce farm in Amado, Ariz. Kelly and Giffords met in 2003 at a young leaders' conference in China and became friends before kindling their romance. Giffords has reportedly recovered well enough to attend her husband's launch in person on Friday from the seaside spaceport in Florida. Kelly is married to Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), who is recovering from being shot outside a Tucson grocery store in January while meeting with constituents. 'And, I think Americans should be proud that we've been able to build such a thing and operate it successfully for such a long period of time.' 'This is the most capable spacecraft that's ever been built and probably will be built for a long period of time,' Kelly said in a NASA interview. He said he was proud to serve on the second-to-last space shuttle mission planned before NASA retires its three-orbiter fleet. Kelly, a veteran of three previous space shuttle missions, will serve as commander on Endeavour's STS-134 mission. (Image credit: Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords' office) Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (right) with her husband, NASA astronaut Mark Kelly.

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