1. Mark Edward Kelly was born on February 21,1964 and is an American politician, retired astronaut, and former naval officer serving as the senior United States senator from Arizona, a seat he has held since 2020.
53 Facts About Mark Kelly
1. 2.
Mark Kelly flew his first space mission in 2001 as pilot of STS-108, then piloted STS-121 in 2006, and commanded STS-124 in 2008 and STS-134 in 2011.
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On February 12,2019, Mark Kelly announced his candidacy for Arizona's Class 3 US Senate seat in the 2020 special election.
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Mark Kelly won the Democratic primary on August 4,2020, and defeated incumbent Republican Martha McSally in the general election on November 3, becoming the first Democrat to win this seat since 1962.
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Mark Kelly was reportedly one of the three leading contenders for the Democratic vice presidential nomination in the 2024 US presidential election, along with Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro and Minnesota governor Tim Walz.
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Mark Kelly was born on February 21,1964, in Orange, New Jersey, and raised in West Orange, New Jersey.
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In December 1987, Mark Kelly became a naval aviator and received initial training on the A-6E Intruder attack aircraft.
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Mark Kelly was then assigned to Attack Squadron 115 at NAF Atsugi in Kanagawa, Japan.
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Mark Kelly traveled over 4.8 million miles and orbited the Earth 186 times over 11 days and 19+ hours.
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In July 2006, Mark Kelly piloted STS-121 Discovery, the second "Return to Flight" mission after the loss of Columbia in February 2003.
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In 2006, Mark Kelly discussed the risks aboard the Space Shuttle:.
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Mark Kelly traveled over 5.28 million miles and orbited the Earth 202 times over 12 days and 18+ hours.
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Mark Kelly traveled over 5.7 million miles, and orbited the Earth 218 times over 13 days and 18 hours.
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Mark Kelly was the commander of the mission, which was Endeavours last.
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When Scott Mark Kelly went to the ISS on October 7,2010, STS-134 was scheduled to go to the station during his mission.
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The remarkable progress his wife was making in her recovery helped Kelly decide to return to training.
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Mark Kelly cited Giffords's needs during her recovery as a reason for his retirement.
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In 2014, Giffords and Mark Kelly coauthored Enough: Our Fight to Keep America Safe from Gun Violence.
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In 2015, Kelly and Martha Freeman co-wrote Astrotwins: Project Blastoff, a fictional story about twins Scott and Mark who build a space capsule in their grandfather's backyard and try to send the first kid into orbit.
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Mark Kelly was a co-founder and strategic advisor of Tucson-based high-altitude balloon near-space exploration company World View Enterprises.
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Mark Kelly served as Director of Flight Crew Operations beginning in 2013, and was involved in the development of the new craft, as well as its procedures and operations.
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Mark Kelly left World View in 2019, before he started his Senate campaign; as of 2021 he held over $100,000 of World View stocks through a blind trust.
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On March 28,2012, SpaceX announced that Mark Kelly would be part of an independent safety advisory panel composed of leading human spaceflight safety experts.
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From 2011 to 2016, Kelly delivered paid speeches in the US and in China on behalf of Shaklee, a multi-level marketing distributor of nutritional supplements.
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Separately, Mark Kelly has delivered paid speeches to bank Goldman Sachs, the Mortgage Bankers Association, and drug company AmerisourceBergen.
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On February 12,2019, Mark Kelly announced that he would run as a Democrat in the 2020 US Senate special election in Arizona.
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Mark Kelly looked to unseat incumbent Republican Martha McSally, a fellow veteran who was appointed to the seat shortly after losing the 2018 election for the state's other seat in the Senate to Democrat Kyrsten Sinema.
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Mark Kelly declined to accept campaign contributions from corporate political action committees, but did accept thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from corporate executives and lobbyists.
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Mark Kelly is the fifth retired astronaut to be elected to Congress, after John Glenn, Harrison Schmitt, Bill Nelson, and Jack Swigert.
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Mark Kelly was reelected in 2022, defeating Republican nominee Blake Masters by 125,719 votes.
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On December 2,2020, Kelly cast his first Senate vote, a "no" vote on the nomination of Kathryn C Davis to the US Court of Federal Claims.
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Mark Kelly voted to convict in Trump's second impeachment trial, along with 56 other senators.
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Mark Kelly ran as a moderate in 2020 and voiced support for bipartisanship.
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Mark Kelly has criticized Joe Biden's approach to border security.
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Mark Kelly supports codifying Roe v Wade into federal law.
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Mark Kelly has said that late-stage abortions should be legally protected.
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Mark Kelly has voiced support for climate action, but said he "does not favor" the Green New Deal.
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Mark Kelly became an outspoken advocate for gun control after the attempted assassination of his wife, former US Representative Gabby Giffords, in the 2011 Tucson mass shooting.
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Mark Kelly voted for the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act in response to the Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, Texas.
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Mark Kelly supports building on the Affordable Care Act to include a public health insurance option.
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In 2025, Mark Kelly was one of 12 Senate Democrats who joined all Republicans to vote for the Laken Riley Act.
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In February 2021, Mark Kelly voted to convict Trump for incitement of insurrection in his second impeachment trial, and has been outspoken in his disdain for him.
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Mark Kelly married US Representative Gabby Giffords of Tucson on November 10,2007, in a ceremony presided over by Rabbi Stephanie Aaron and attended by his STS-124 shuttle crew and former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich.
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At the time of their marriage, Mark Kelly lived in Houston, Texas, and said that the longest stretch of time the two had spent together was a couple of weeks.
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Mark Kelly said that they did not plan to always live that way, but that it was what they were used to.
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Mark Kelly said that he believed people's prayers for her helped.
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Mark Kelly flew from Houston to Tucson with members of his family.
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Giffords and Mark Kelly had spoken dozens of times about how risky her job was.
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Mark Kelly was afraid that someone with a gun would come up to her at a public event.
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Mark Kelly sat between First Lady Michelle Obama and Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, the former governor of Arizona.
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Mark Kelly said the attack on his wife brought him closer to God and gave him a newfound awareness regarding prayer.
52.
In 2011, Mark Kelly said he believed there was a chance to change a political environment he believed was too vitriolic.
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Mark Kelly hoped that the tragedy would be an opportunity to improve the tone of the national dialogue and cool down the rhetoric.