CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A space shuttle took flight for the next-to-last time Monday as Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, still recovering from a gunshot wound and hidden from public view, watched her astronaut husband rocket through the clouds in a deafening roar.
Giffords and the other crew families were described as awe-struck and silent on the rooftop of the launch control center.
Additional Photos
“Good stuff, good stuff,” she said from her wheelchair when it was quiet again, according to a congressional aide.
Giffords joined the other five astronauts’ wives and children on top of the Kennedy Space Center building to watch Endeavour’s last voyage as NASA winds down the 30-year-old shuttle program. After liftoff, there were hugs all around.
Endeavour disappeared so quickly into the clouds that the launch manager apologized later to the hundreds of thousands who jammed the nearby area.
Giffords’ husband, Mark Kelly, is Endeavour’s commander and his twin astronaut brother, Scott, gave red tulips to Giffords once he safely reached orbit.
Kelly carried her wedding ring into space, which he has done in the past. This time, she wanted his ring to stay on Earth. She had it around her neck on a silver chain that included a heart and an Arizona map.
“She was very proud. She’s always proud of Mark,” Giffords chief of staff Pia Carusone said.
Giffords has difficulty speaking, but Carusone said Giffords’ comment after the launch was one of the congresswoman’s oft-used expressions.
That Giffords would watch the launch seemed improbable a little more than four months ago. The would-be assassin shot her in the head, critically wounding her, killing six people and injuring 12 others at a political event in her hometown of Tucson, Ariz.
The bullet pierced the left side of Giffords’ brain, affecting speech and movement on her right side.
The tragic event made the relatively unknown congresswoman and astronaut America’s sweethearts, Gabby and Mark. And it drew attention to what became known as the Mark Kelly flight once he made the decision to fly while she continued rehab.
Monday’s 8:56 a.m. liftoff generated the kind of excitement seldom seen on Florida’s Space Coast on such a grand scale – despite a delay of more than two weeks because of an electrical problem.
Endeavour and its experienced crew of five Americans and an Italian are headed for the International Space Station. They will arrive at the orbiting outpost Wednesday, delivering a $2 billion magnetic instrument that will seek out antimatter and dark energy in the universe.
Copy the Story Link
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.