Scott J. Kelly

:"This article is about the astronaut Scott J. Kelly. For the musician Scott Kelly see Scott Kelly (musician)"Infobox Astronaut
name =Scott Joseph Kelly

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type =NASA Astronaut
status = Active
nationality =American
date_birth =birth date and age|1964|02|21
place_birth =Orange, New Jersey
occupation =Test Pilot
rank =Captain, USN
selection =1996 NASA Group
time =20d 17h 03m
mission =STS-103, STS-118
insignia = |

Scott Joseph Kelly (born February 21, 1964) is an American naval aviator and a NASA astronaut. His twin brother, Mark E. Kelly, is also in the NASA Astronaut Corps.

Personal

Kelly was born Orange, New Jersey to Richard and Patricia Kelly, and raised in the nearby community of West Orange. He graduated from West Orange's Mountain High School in 1982. He received a bachelor of science degree in Electrical Engineering from the State University of New York Maritime College [ [http://www.spacefacts.de/bios/astronauts/english/kelly_scott.htm Astronaut Biography: Scott Kelly ] ] in 1987, and a master of science degree in Aviation Systems from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, in 1996.

Kelly is married to the former Leslie S. Yandell of Atlanta, Georgia, and they have two children. He enjoys running and weightlifting.

Naval career

Kelly received his commission from the State University of New York Maritime College in May 1987, and was designated a naval aviator in July 1989 at Naval Air Station (NAS) Beeville, Texas.

He then reported to Fighter Squadron 101 at NAS Oceana, Virginia Beach, Virginia, for initial F-14 Tomcat training. Upon completion of this training, he was assigned to Fighter Squadron 143 and made overseas deployments to the North Atlantic, Mediterranean Sea, Red Sea and Persian Gulf aboard the aircraft carrier USS|Dwight D. Eisenhower|CVN-69.

Kelly was selected to attend the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School in January 1993 and completed training in June 1994. After graduation, he worked as a test pilot at the Strike Aircraft Test Squadron, Naval Air Warfare Center, Aircraft Division, Patuxent River, Maryland, flying the F-14A/B/D, F/A-18A/B/C/D and KC-130F. Kelly was the first pilot to fly an F-14 with an experimental digital flight control system installed and performed subsequent high angle of attack and departure testing.

Kelly has logged over 3,000 flight hours in more than 30 different aircraft and has over 250 carrier landings.

NASA career

Selected by NASA in April 1996, Kelly reported to the Johnson Space Center in August 1996. On completion of training, he was assigned technical duties in the Astronaut Office Spacecraft Systems/Operations Branch. He served as pilot on STS-103 in 1999 and has logged over 191 hours in space. Following STS-103, Kelly served as NASA’s Director of Operations in Star City, Russia. He served as a back-up crew member for ISS expedition 5 and, more recently, was assigned technical duties in the Astronaut Office extravehicular (eVA) Branch. Kelly commanded the crew of STS-118, an assembly mission to the International Space Station. The STS-118 Mission launched from the Kennedy Space Center, on Wednesday August 8th, 2007, at 6:36 EDT, and landed at Kennedy on August 21, 2007.

paceflight experience

STS-103 (December 19-27, 1999), was an eight-day mission during which the crew successfully installed new instruments and upgraded systems on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). enhancing HST scientific capabilities required three space walks. The STS-103 mission was accomplished in 120 earth orbits, traveling 3.2 million miles in 191 hours and 11 minutes.

Organizations

Kelly is a member of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots and the Association of Space Explorers.

Awards

* Defense Superior Service Medal
* Navy Commendation Medal
* Navy Achievement Medal
* Navy Unit Commendations, twice
* National Defense Service Medal
* Southwest Asia Service Medal
* Kuwait Liberation Medal
* Sea Service Deployment Ribbon

References

* [http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/kellysj.html NASA Biography]
* [http://www.spacefacts.de/bios/astronauts/english/kelly_scott.htm Spacefacts biography of Scott J. Kelly]
* [http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts118/main/index.html Current photo of Scott J. Kelly]