BLAST OFF

Giffords Cleared to Attend Shuttle Launch

Will fly from Houston to Florida with nurse.

Doctors have confirmed that Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords can attend the launch of the space shuttle Endeavour, which her astronaut husband Mark Kelly is commanding on Friday. A source close to her told CNN that Giffords will be accompanied by a nurse on her flight from Houston, where she is recovering at TIRR Memorial Hermann hospital, to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The source did not confirm whether the astronaut's wife would be flying on a commercial or private plane. Giffords has made a miraculous recovery since she was shot in the head in early January. Mark Kelly told CBS that Giffords' "personality's a hundred percent there," but that "the communication skills are difficult at this point." Giffords will not speak with media at the launch.