Veteran and astronaut Mark Kelly went into politics after wife Gabby Giffords was shot

Astronaut, author and U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., appeared to be a top contender as Vice President Kamala Harris' Democratic running mate pick at least as of Monday morning — and if he were yet to be picked, could bring a dramatic life story to the ticket.

Harris is aiming to defeat Republican former President Donald Trump and his vice-presidential nominee, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, in the race to take the Oval Office.

Kelly enjoyed the triumph of rocketing into space four times as a NASA astronaut — and also suffered gut-wrenching tragedy when his wife, former Arizona U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords, was shot in the head in a 2011 assassination attempt. 

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He shared details of his life as an author of two books written with Giffords (he's also the author of four astronaut-themed children's books). 

"Whether it was from my time in the Navy and at NASA, serving in the United States Senate, or visiting our troops overseas: I've learned that when your country asks you to serve, you always answer the call," Kelly posted to X on Sunday, leading many to think she could be adding him to the ticket. 

Vice President Kamala Harris prepares to swear in Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., with his wife Gabrielle Giffords in the old Senate chamber for the Ceremonial Swearing on Jan. 3, 2023, in Washington, D.C. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

The choice of picks appeared to be narrowing down quickly on Monday. 

Kelly was born in New Jersey in 1964. 

He flew 39 missions as a U.S. Navy aviator during the Gulf War, and served aboard four space shuttle missions, two as commander of the spacecraft. 

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He defeated Republican incumbent Martha McSally to win his Senate seat in 2020. 

Kelly and Giffords married on Nov. 10, 2007. She was nearly murdered little more than three years later, on Jan. 6, 2011, while greeting constituents in Tucson, Arizona. 

Commander Mark Kelly, right, is assisted by United Space Alliance suit technician Andre Denard prior to the April 2011 launch of space shuttle Endeavour. (NASA via Getty Images)

"Gabby: A Story of Courage and Hope," released at the end of 2011, chronicled their journey together before and then after the tragedy, which ended Giffords’ political career.

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"Gabby always loved playing with my wedding ring," Kelly writes. "At almost every meal, she’d slip the ring off my finger and move it from her thumb to her forefinger to her middle finger. It was her little ritual, her way of fidgeting."

"Her eyes remained closed, tubes were everywhere …"

That ritual proved the first sign of hope as she lay unconscious five days after she was nearly killed. 

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"Suddenly, as she held my hand … she actually pulled the ring off and began to move it around in her fingers, just like always … Her eyes remained closed, tubes were everywhere, but she was somehow able to direct the fingers of her one good hand to rediscover her old pastime."

He added, "I was more than surprised. I was overwhelmed."

Gabby Giffords, former representative from Arizona, left, and Sen. Mark Kelly, a Democrat from Arizona, in Statuary Hall ahead of a State of the Union address at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, March 7, 2024.  (Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Just four months after his wife was nearly murdered, Kelly was "awaiting the last launch of the space shuttle Endeavour."

Kelly was the commander of the spacecraft, which proved to be the last mission into space for both the Endeavour and for Kelly. 

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Kelly and Giffords tackled the experience from a more politically entangled in "Enough: Our Fight to Keep America Safe from Gun Violence," which they co-authored with Harry Jaffe in 2014.

Sen. Mark Kelly and Vice President Kamala Harris. Kelly was considered a finalist as a vice presidential pick for the 2024 Democratic ticket.  (Getty Images)

The book is framed, of course, by the horrific shooting in Tucson, when a man unleashed a torrent of bullets from a handgun. 

Giffords survived. But six people were killed and 15 others were wounded.

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"Gabby and I fear the country has veered off course when it comes to one important issue: how we relate to guns," the couple wrote in the book.

"A basic freedom that both Gabby and I wholeheartedly embrace, the right to bear arms, has become radicalized."

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