Astronaut lands in Nevada, so to speak

I wish to begin by noting that when it comes to politics, I am registered nonpartisan. So when writing about Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, I’m focusing (well, for the most part), on his role as a retired NASA astronaut, not as a politician.

Having said that, Kelly was invited this month to be a guest in Las Vegas, by and for, the Nevada Democratic party. At a gathering at a local eatery, Kelly preached to the choir about the party and its goals.

Rep. Dina Titus was present, and she praised Kelly as a “true American hero.” But perhaps more interestingly, she told the story of initially meeting Kelly years ago at Burger King restaurant. Pilot Kelly confirmed the meeting, saying that he and his wife were often in Las Vegas on fuel stops on their way to California. One day they were at the aforementioned Burger King when Titus, who was already in the restaurant, spotted the couple and introduced herself. They have remained friends ever since.

Kelly’s wife, Gabby Giffords, was an Arizona congresswoman who was shot in an assassination attempt in 2011. She left Congress and works with her husband as a gun violence advocate. They founded a nonprofit political action committee, Americans for Responsible Solutions (later merged into Giffords), which campaigned for gun control measures like universal background checks.

At the recent gathering, someone asked Kelly that if his wife was not shot and partially disabled, would she have become an astronaut? He answered that he often wondered about that, and when he discussed it, his wife said “Yes.”

Prior to his entry into politics, Kelly flew combat missions during the Gulf War as a Naval aviator before being selected as a NASA Space Shuttle pilot in 1996. He 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 (the final mission of Space Shuttle Endeavour) in 2011.

In December 1987, Kelly became a Naval aviator and received initial training on the Intruder attack aircraft. He was then assigned to an attack squadron in Japan. He was deployed twice to the Persian Gulf aboard the aircraft carrier USS Midway, which was homeported at Yokosuka, Japan. During Operation Desert Storm, Kelly flew 39 combat missions. After the Gulf War, Kelly received his master’s degree and then attended U.S. Naval Test Pilot School from 1993 to 1994. As a Naval aviator and test pilot, he has logged more than 5,000 hours in more than 50 different aircraft and accomplished more than 375 carrier landings.

In Las Vegas he praised the American military and said, “It’s a dangerous world.” But he noted that he places his faith in the nation’s youth. “I think the future of the country can be great for the kids and grandkids,” he said, giving a nod to several small children who were sitting upfront on the floor, enthralled as he spoke.

I couldn’t resist politics altogether and I asked Kelly about former vice president and presidential candidate Kamala Harris. Had he spoken with her, and if so, what advice might he have given her about her political future? He said that he had met with her not long ago, but he demurred about the conversation, saying he would prefer to keep it private.

In answering a question about lessons learned when in outer space, he said it was “teamwork.” He explained his NASA team was required to disagree with him. If they thought he should do something different, they were under orders to say so and discuss it with him and the others. Sounds like excellent advice for life on the ground, as well as in outer space.