Mark Kelly

Mark Edward Kelly born February 21 1964 is an American politician and a retired astronaut and naval officer He is the senior United States senator from Arizona a seat he has held since 2020 He is a member of the Democratic Party Kelly flew combat missions during the Gulf War as a naval aviator before being selected as a NASA Space Shuttle pilot in 1996 His identical twin brother Scott Kelly also became a NASA astronaut that year Mark flew his first space mission in 2001 as pilot of STS108 then piloted STS121 in 2006 and commanded STS124 in 2008 and STS134 the final mission of Space Shuttle Endeavour in 2011 In January 2011 Kellys wife thenArizona Representative Gabby Giffords was shot and nearly killed in an assassination attempt in Arizona Kelly retired from the Navy and NASA that October In 2013 Kelly and Giffords founded a nonprofit political action committee Americans for Responsible Solutions later merged into Giffords which campaigned for gun control measures like universal background checks Kelly was first elected to the Senate in a 2020 special election triggered by the death of Senator John McCain He defeated incumbent Republican Martha McSally in the general election becoming the first Democrat to win the seat since 1962 Kelly was reelected to a full term in 2022