Mark Kelly : Net Worth, Family, Wife, Education, Children, Age, Biography and Political Career

Mark Edward Kelly is an American politician, businessman, former astronaut and retired U.S. Navy captain serving as the junior us Senator from Arizona since 2020. A member of the Democratic Party, he won the 2020 special election, defeating incumbent Republican Martha McSally. Formerly an aerospace consultant and executive, Kelly is that the author of several books.

Kelly flew combat missions during the Gulf War as a naval aviator before being selected as a NASA spacecraft pilot in 1996. He flew his first space mission in 2001 as pilot of STS-108, piloted STS-121 in 2006, and commanded STS-124 in 2008 and STS-134 in 2011, the ultimate mission of spacecraft Endeavour. His monozygotic twin Scott Kelly is additionally a retired astronaut, they are the sole siblings to possess both traveled in space.

Mark Kelly Net Worth

Mark Kelly is $ 20 Million in 2021.

Mark Kelly Family

Mark Edward Kelly and twin brother Scott Kelly are the sons of Richard and Patricia Kelly, two retired cops. hes of Irish descent. He was born on February 21, 1964, in Orange, New Jersey, and raised in West Orange, New Jersey.

Mark Kelly Wife and Children

Kelly married Amelia Victoria Babis on January 7, 1989. They divorced in 2004. they need two daughters, Claudia and Claire Kelly. Kelly married U.S. Representative Gabby Giffords of Tucson, Arizona, on November 10, 2007, during a ceremony presided over by Rabbi Stephanie Aaron, and attended by his STS-124 shuttle crew and former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich.

Mark Kelly Career and Achievement

Naval Career

In December 1987, Kelly became a naval aviator and received initial training on the A-6E Intruder attack aircraft. He was then assigned to Attack Squadron 115 (VA-115) in Atsugi, Japan, and made two deployments to the Persian Gulf on the aircraft carrier USS Midway, flying 39 combat missions in Operation Desert Storm. After receiving his masters degree, Kelly attended the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School from 1993 to 1994. He has logged more than 5,000 hours in more than 50 different aircraft and has over 375 carrier landings.

Kelly has received two Defense Superior Service Medals; one Legion of Merit; two Distinguished Flying Crosses; four Air Medals (two individual/two strike flight) with Combat "V"; two Navy Commendation Medals, (one with combat "V"); one Navy Achievement Medal; two Southwest Asia Service Medals; one Navy Expeditionary Medal; two Sea Service Deployment Ribbons; a NASA Distinguished Service Medal; and an Overseas Service Ribbon.

On June 21, 2011, Kelly announced his retirement from the U.S. Navy and NASA, effective October 1, 2011. His retirement was announced on his Facebook page, where he wrote, "Words cannot convey my deep gratitude for the opportunities I have been given to serve our great nation. From the day I entered the United States Merchant Marine Academy in the summer of 1982 to the moment I landed the Space Shuttle Endeavour three weeks ago, it has been my privilege to advance the ideals that define the United States of America."

NASA Career

NASA selected both Mark and Scott Kelly to be Space Shuttle pilots in 1996. They joined the NASA Astronaut Corps in August of that year. Mark Kelly has logged over 54 days in space. During his 2006 flight on Space Shuttle Discovery, the second mission after the loss of Space Shuttle Columbia, Kelly discussed the risks of flying the Space Shuttle

On June 21, 2011, Kelly announced that he would leave NASAs astronaut corps and the U.S. Navy effective October 1. He cited Giffordss needs during her recovery as a reason for his retirement.

Post-NASA Career

Author

In 2011, Kelly and Giffords coauthored Gabby: A Story of Courage, Love and Resilience. The book provides biographical information on the couple and describes in detail the assassination attempt on Giffords and her initial recovery. Written in Kellys voice, it includes a short note by Giffords at the end.

Kellys second book, Mousetronaut: Based on a (Partially) True Story (2012), is a childrens book illustrated by C. F. Payne. It was a New York Times number one bestseller[45] and was followed the next year by a sequel, Mousetronaut Goes to Mars.

In 2014, Giffords and Kelly coauthored Enough: Our Fight to Keep America Safe from Gun Violence.

In 2015, Kelly and Martha Freeman cowrote Astrotwins: Project Blastoff, a fictional story about twins Scott and Mark who build a space capsule in their grandfathers backyard and try to send the first kid into orbit. Kelly dedicated this book to Scott Kelly. The sequel, Astrotwins—Project Rescue, was published in 2016.

Aerospace Work

Kelly is co-founder and strategic advisor of Tucson-based near-space exploration company World View Enterprises.

On March 28, 2012, SpaceX announced that Kelly would be part of an independent safety advisory panel composed of leading human spaceflight safety experts.

Political Activism

In January 2013, Kelly and Giffords started a political action committee, Americans for Responsible Solutions. The organizations mission is to promote solutions to gun violence with elected officials and the general public. The couple say it supports the Second Amendment while promoting responsible gun ownership and "keeping guns out of the hands of dangerous people like criminals, terrorists, and the mentally ill. The group claims that "current gun laws allow private sellers to sell guns without a background check, creating a loophole that provides criminals and the mentally ill easy access to guns". On March 31, 2013, Kelly said, "any bill that does not include a universal background check is a mistake. Its the most common-sense thing we can do to prevent criminals and the mentally ill from having access to weapons." In 2016, Americans for Responsible Solutions joined the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence and launched a joint organization known as "Giffords".

U.S. Senate

Elections

2020 Special

On February 12, 2019, Kelly announced that he would run as a Democrat in the 2020 United States Senate special election in Arizona. Kelly looked to unseat incumbent Republican Martha McSally, a fellow veteran who was appointed to the position shortly after losing the 2018 Senate election to Democrat Kyrsten Sinema. The seat was vacated upon John McCains death on August 25, 2018, and held by Governor Doug Duceys appointee Jon Kyl until Kyl resigned on December 31, 2018. Kelly declined to accept campaign contributions from corporate political action committees (PACs), but did accept thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from corporate executives and lobbyists.

The Associated Press called the race for Kelly on November 4, 2020. His election marks the first time since 1953 that Arizona has had two Democratic senators. As the election was a special election, Kelly took office during the 116th Congress, shortly after Arizona certified its election results on November 30, unlike other senators and representatives elected in 2020, who took office at the opening of the 117th Congress on January 3, 2021. Kelly was sworn in at noon on December 2. His term ends in 2023, after which his seat will be occupied by the winner of the 2022 election, in which Kelly is running.

Kelly is the fifth retired astronaut to be elected to Congress, after John Glenn, Bill Nelson, Harrison Schmitt, and Jack Swigert.