Scott Kelly is an American engineer, retired astronaut, and U.S. Navy captain whose first spaceflight was as pilot of Space Shuttle Discovery during STS-103 in December 1999. Kelly also commanded the International Space Station(ISS) on Expeditions 26, 45, and 46.
Kelly became the first American to spend 12 consecutive months in space when he completed a 340-day stint on the International Space Station in 2016. He and his twin brother, Mark Kelly have undoubtedly set a record for one to spent a year in space on the International Space Station, while the other twin spent the year on Earth.
Besides, he kept updating his status in space through his social media sites: Instagram: @stationcdrkelly and Twitter: @StationCDRKelly.
What is Scott Kelly Famous for?
- Famous as a retired astronaut who has spent nearly a year on space.
Source: @heavy
Where was Scott Kelly Born?
Scott Kelly was born on February 21, 1964, in Orange, New Jersey, United States. His birth name is Scott Joseph Kelly. His nationality is American. Kelly belongs to White ethnicity while Pisces is his zodiac sign.
Scott Kelly was born, along with his identical twin brother Mark Kelly to Patricia(mother) and Richard Kelly(father). Both of his parents were police officers. Kelly and his twin, Mark, always had an interest in space and astronomy, they joined Mountain High School, during which Kelly worked as an emergency medical technician.
They graduated from high school in 1982. After graduating from high school, Kelly enrolled at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.
During his year in the university, he was inspired to pursue a career in naval aviation after he read “The Right Stuff” by Tom Wolfe. After he spent his freshman year in the university, he got transferred to State University of New York Maritime College(SUNY Maritime), where he received a Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps(Navy ROTC) scholarship.
Later, he sailed first time aboard on SUNY Maritime’s training ship, “Empire State V”. Besides, he also served as the student battalion commander for his school’s Navy ROTC detachment.
In 1987, he graduated from the university earning a bachelor of engineering degree in electrical engineering. After graduation, Kelly was commissioned as an ensign in the US Navy. He completed his initial flight school at NAS Pensacola, where he flew the T-34 Mentor propeller as well. In 1988, he moved to Beeville, Texas, for jet training Naval Air Station Chase Field, and graduated as a naval aviator in 1989, and was assigned to fly the F-14 Tomcat and later, in September 1990, he was assigned to VFA-143.
Source: @britannica
Scott Kelly’s Career as an Astronaut
- Scott Kelly was selected to attend the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland in January 1993. After graduating in June 1994, he was assigned to the Strike Aircraft Test Directorate at Patuxent River.
- In 1995, Kelly and his twin brother, Mark applied to NASA to become astronauts and eventually got selected in April 1996, thus becoming the first relatives to be selected in NASA history.
- After Kelly’s first flight on STS-103, he served as NASA’s director of operations in Star City, Russia. He also served as the Astronaut Office Space Station Branch Chief.
- In March 1999, Kelly was assigned to STS-103 as a pilot aboard “Discovery”, which was launched on December 19, 1999.
- In September 2002, Kelly served as the commander of the NEEMO 4 mission aboard the Aquarius underwater laboratory. The same year, Kelly was assigned as commander of STS-118 aboard Endeavour.
Source: @commons.wikimedia
- In 2007, Kelly was assigned to Expeditions 25 and 26, the respective long-duration mission to the International Space Station along with cosmonauts Aleksandr Kaleri and Oleg Skripochka.
- Kelly then switched launch vehicles to a Soyuz for his next flight into space, which would be his first long-duration space station mission which was launched in October 2010, where he spent 159 days aboard the ISS. He also served as commander of mission Expedition 26.
- Kelly along with Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko and Gennady Padalka launched to the ISS on March 27, 2015. Kelly performed three spacewalks, took charge of a moldy plant experiment and saved the zinnia flowers within it, and served as commander for Expeditions 45 and 46.
- His one-year mission was to better understand how the human body adapts to lengthy periods in space. On March 2, 2016, after 340 consecutive days in space, he arrived safely on Earth.
- In November 2016, he was appointed United Nations Champion for Space by the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA).
- Kelly finally got retired from NASA on April 1, 2016. Even after retiring, Kelly has remained active in spaceflight activities.
- In 2017, he published his autobiography “Endurance: A Year in Space, A Lifetime of Discovery” (Viking, 2017).
- On June 19, 2018, Kelly spoke at the UNISPACE50+ conference in Vienna.
Awards and Honors
Scott Kelly has been awarded several awards and honors in his long-time career as a NASA astronaut. Kelly received an honorary Korolev Diploma from the Federation Aeronautique Internationale in 1999 and an Honorary Doctorate of Science degree from the State University of New York in 2008. He is also a member of the Association of Space Explorers.
Awards
Legion of Merit, Distinguished Flying Cross, Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal, Navy Achievement Medal, Navy Unit Commendation, NASA Distinguished Service Medal, NASA Exceptional Service Medal, NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal, 3 NASA Space Flight Medal, 2 National Defense Service Medal,
Southwest Asia Service Medal, Navy Sea Service Deployment Ribbon, Kuwait Liberation Medal (Saudi Arabia), Kuwait Liberation Medal (Kuwait), Medal “For Merit in Space Exploration”.
Source: @gettyimages
Who is Scott Kelly Married to?
Scott Kelly has married two times. Kelly was first married to his first wife, Leslie. The couple met for the first time while stationed in Virginia Beach, and later on April 25, 1992, they got married. The couple together had two children, Samantha and Charlotte, however, living together for more than 12 years, they got divorced in 2010.
Eight years later, Kelly got married to his current wife, Amiko Kauderer. Amiko is a public affairs officer for NASA, with whom Kelly had been living with since shortly after his divorce. They got married in July 2018.
Besides, Kelly was diagnosed with prostate cancer but was successfully treated in 2007. Soon after Kelly received his diagnosis, his brother Mark was also diagnosed and successfully treated. Also, spending almost a year in space, Scott had quite a number of changes as compared to his twin retired astronaut brother, Mark, who was on earth, which was shown on a report published in 2019.
How Tall is Scott Kelly?
Scott Kelly is a handsome White man in his 50s. Born with his identical twin, Mark Kelly, Scott faced a change in between him and his brother after he returned back to earth spending 340 days on space. In fact, while he was in space, he grew 1.5 inches but went back to his normal height when he came back to Earth.
Besides, his DNA has also been changed quite from Mark.
What is the Net Worth of Scott Kelly?
Scott Kelly has quite good earnings from his professional career as a NASA astronaut. Having worked in this field for more than a decade, he has easily managed to amass a worthful amount as his estimated net worth is around $500k. Besides, he has been earning money from his book and retirement as well.
Leave a Reply