Space travel has become so commonplace, that the media barely mentions a scheduled space shuttle takeoff in the news any more.
Last week, NASA announced that Mark Kelly — a veteran of 3 space flights — would be piloting the space shuttle Endeavour on its final flight into outer space.
Immediately after NASA’s announcement, the questions began: why was Kelly leaving his wife, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who is in rehab recovering from a head shot, to fly into outer space for two weeks?
Kelly, who was in Houston on Jan. 8 when Giffords was shot, rushed to Tucson, Arizona to be by her side. It wasn’t long before he was in front of the cameras giving daily updates on Giffords’ condition.
Most husbands would have taken a leave of absence from their jobs to care for their wives. But a narcissist puts his needs above all others. It is more important for Mr. Kelly to pilot the final space mission for the shuttle program, than it is to remain by his wife’s side and allow another pilot to get the glory.
As the whispers grew louder, Kelly defended his selfish action, saying that his wife would be “very comfortable” with his decision to fly off into space for two weeks.
He avoided reporters questions about her condition or how he knows she would be comfortable with his choice.
“I know her very well and she would be very comfortable with the decision that I made,” Kelly said tersely.
“The longest amount of time we’ve spent together is probably a couple of weeks at a stretch,” Kelly told the NY Times when the couple wed in 2007. It should be noted that Kelly was still married to his first wife when he met the congresswoman in 2003. He eventually divorced his wife to marry Giffords.
Kelly predicted that Giffords, 40, will be at Cape Canaveral, Fla., on April 19 for shuttle Endeavour’s liftoff.
“I have every intention that she’ll be there for the launch. I’ve talked to her doctors about that,” he said confidently.
Between now and then, Kelly, 46, will be kept busy working long hours in preparation for the space flight. There will be limited time to spend with his wife, who can breathe on her own although she still has a breathing tube down her throat.
Doctors plan to plug Giffords’ breathing tube so she can speak. But probably not before Kelly joins the other astronauts in quarantine a week before the launch.
