HOUSTON - For the first time, twin brothers are slated to be in space simultaneously early next year. Mark Kelly will be in command of the last scheduled space shuttle flight, and Scott Kelly in command of the International Space Station.
Scott Kelly is scheduled to launch to the space station aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Oct. 7 (Oct. 8 Houston time) for a six-month-long mission aboard the complex. He will serve as flight engineer for Expedition 25 and commander for Expedition 26.
His twin brother Mark, commander of shuttle Endeavour's STS-134 mission, is scheduled to visit the station in February to deliver supplies and the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer. AMS is a device to study the universe's origin by searching for antimatter, dark matter,strange matter and measuring cosmic rays. If the launch schedule holds, the pair would be working together in orbit for eight days before the shuttle undocks and returns to Earth.
The Kellys, both captains in the U.S. Navy, were born Feb. 21, 1964, in Orange, N.J., and consider West Orange, N.J., their hometown. Scott has flown on two prior shuttle missions: as pilot of STS-103 in 1999 and as commander of STS-118 in 2007. Mark is a veteran of three prior shuttle missions: as pilot of STS-108 in 2001 and STS-121 in 2006, and as commander of STS-124 in 2008.
Scott and Mark Kelly are sharing their experiences via their respective Twitter accounts.
Follow Mark at: http://twitter.com/shuttlecdrkelly
Follow Scott at: http://twitter.com/stationcdrkelly
For complete biographical information about Scott and Mark Kelly, visit:
http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios
International Space Station News
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