Giffords' Husband at Career Crossroads

With his wife Rep. Gabrielle Giffords beginning a rehabilitation program in Houston, astronaut Mark E. Kelly—who is scheduled to fly the shuttle Endeavor on a two-week mission to the International Space Station in April—must make a difficult career decision. NASA and Kelly will have to decide if the captain can command the mission and continue training in the weeks leading up to the launch. It would be Kelly's fourth trip to space, but with the shuttle program coming to an end, giving up this flight might mean giving up his last chance to command a shuttle mission. If Giffords’ recovery continues to go as smoothly as it has since she was shot, she might urge her husband to go, said George Abbey, a former director of the Johnson Space Center. “She is a great supporter of his career," he said. "She would say fly, but I think a lot of it is really going to be up to Mark.”