- James M. Kelly
Infobox Astronaut
name =James M. Kelly
type = Astronaut
nationality =American
date_birth =May 14 1964
date_death =
place_birth =Burlington, Iowa
place_death =
occupation =Test Pilot
rank =Colonel , USAF
selection =1996 NASA Group
time =26d 17h 21m
mission =STS-102 ,STS-114
insignia =|James McNeal "Vegas" Kelly (born
May 14 1964 ) is aNASA Astronaut and a formerLieutenant Colonel of theUnited States Air Force .Education
Born in
Burlington, Iowa , James Kelly graduated from Burlington Community High School in 1982. He received a B.S. degree in astronautical engineering from theUnited States Air Force Academy in 1986 and M.S. degree inaerospace engineering from theUniversity of Alabama in 1996.Major Achievements
Kelly received his commission from the
United States Air Force Academy in May 1986 and was designated anAir Force Pilot in October 1987. He then reported to the426th F-15 Replacement Training Unit atLuke Air Force Base ,Phoenix, Arizona for initialF-15 Eagle training. After completion, he was assigned to the67th Fighter Squadron ,18th Fighter Wing atKadena Air Base inOkinawa .During his tour in Japan, he was designated as an instructor pilot, evaluator pilot, and mission commander. He was reassigned in April 1992 to
Otis Air National Guard Base inCape Cod, Massachusetts , as part of Project TOTAL FORCE, where he continued flying the F-15 as an instructor and mission commander. He was selected for Air Force Test Pilot School atEdwards Air Force Base ,Edwards, California , where he graduated in June 1994. After graduation, he was assigned to theAir Force Flight Test Center detachment atNellis Air Force Base inLas Vegas, Nevada , where he was a project test pilot and assistant operations officer. He was at Nellis when selected for the astronaut program.He has logged over 2,500 flight hours in more than 35 different aircraft.
Honors
* Distinguished Graduate in the class of 1986 at the U.S. Air Force Academy, with honors
* Distinguished Graduate of Undergraduate Pilot Training atEuro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training atSheppard Air Force Base ,Wichita Falls, Texas
* Top Gun atF-15 initial training atLuke Air Force Base ,Phoenix, Arizona
* Distinguished Graduate and Liethen-Tittle Award for the Outstanding Graduate of theAir Force Test Pilot School , class 93B
* Meritorious Service Medal
* 2Air Force Commendation Medal s
* 2Outstanding Unit Award s
* 2Combat Readiness Medal sNASA experience
Selected by NASA in April 1996, Kelly reported to the
Johnson Space Center in August 1996. Having completed two years of training and evaluation, he is qualified for selection as a pilot on aSpace Shuttle flight crew . Initially, Kelly was assigned to the Astronaut Office Flight Support Branch where he served as a member of the Astronaut Support Personnel team responsible for shuttle launch preparation.pace flight experience
*
STS-102 Discovery (March 8 2001 -March 21 2001 ) was the eighthShuttle mission to visit theInternational Space Station . Mission accomplishments included the delivery of theExpedition-2 crew and the contents of the Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module, the completion of two successfulspace walks , the return to Earth of the Expedition-1 crew, as well as the return of Leonardo, the reusable cargo carrier built by theItalian Space Agency . Mission duration was 307 hours and 49 minutes.*
STS-114 Discovery (July 26 2005 -August 9 2005 ) was NASA's Return to Flight mission after theSpace Shuttle Columbia disaster . The mission saw Kelly return to theInternational Space Station . During the time docked there were three spacewalks made which aimed to test procedures for thermal protection system repair. The mission was extended by a day due to bad weather at theKennedy Space Center .When this continued for a second day the shuttle was diverted and Kelly landed Discovery at
Edwards Air Force Base ,California . Mission duration was 333 hours, 33 minutes.Personal life
He is married to Dawn Renee Kelly (née Timmerman); they have four children.
Links
* [http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/kellyjm.html Official NASA Bio]
* [http://www.nasa.gov/vision/space/preparingtravel/james_kelly_profile.html STS-114 James Kelly Crew Profile]
* [http://www.spacefacts.de/bios/astronauts/english/kelly_james.htm Spacefacts biography of James M. Kelly]
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