Mark Kelly: Gabby Would Want Me to Fly Shuttle

Mark Kelly, the astronaut husband of a wounded U.S. congresswoman, said that her remarkable progress towards health helped him decide it was time to head back to space.

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords not only survived, but by all accounts she is making good progress in rehabilitation in Houston, where husband Mark Kelly will resume training Monday for shuttle Endeavour's final voyage. One doctor has described her recovery as "lightning speed."

At a press conference Friday, Kelly said that he originally thought that he would be at his wife side for several months in the ICU unit after the shooting, but she has been able to move to a rehabilitation facility and has "made progress every day."

"I started to think about the mission and my crew, fact that I've been training for it for nearly a year and half," Kelly said. "Factors included what Gabrilelle would want me to do, what her parents, my family would like. I made the decision that I would like to return and command STS-134."

Special Report: Tragedy in Tucson

At the news conference, Kelly was asked repeatedly if he had gotten a verbal OK from his wife to go on the mission.

"I don't want to get into details into details on condition or prognosis. She improves every day," Kelly said. "I know her very well. She would very, very comfortable with the decision that I made."

Kelly said he has shied away from giving specifics about what his wife can or can't do - including whether or not she can speak - because he doesn't want to lead to daily speculation about her condition. He did say that she was improving much quicker than doctors had anticipate and said one doctor classified her improvement rate being in the top 1 percent of brain injury cases.

Kelly, who's been on leave since the shooting nearly a month ago, said in a news release that he's looking forward to rejoining his crew and finishing all the training. He noted that they have been preparing for the space station delivery mission for more than 18 months and will be ready to carry it out.

"I appreciate the confidence that my NASA management has in me and the rest of my space shuttle crew," Kelly said.

Kelly's wife was shot outside a Tucson, Arizona, supermarket as she met with constituents on Jan. 8. Six people were killed and 13 were injured in the rampage; a 22-year-old suspect is in custody.

The 40-year-old congresswoman was in intensive care for two weeks, with Kelly at her bedside, before she was transferred to Houston for what is expected to be a lengthy rehabilitation. Kelly wanted her as close to him as possible, if he returned to work at Johnson Space Center. He lives in the Houston area with his two teenage daughters from a previous marriage, Claudia and Claire.

Kelly, 46, spent the past month debating whether to step down as commander of Endeavour. As he agonized over the decision, NASA named a backup commander, Rick Sturckow, who joined the crew for training. Kelly said all along that he wanted his wife's input in the matter, if at all possible.

Specific details of Giffords' recovery have not been released. Last week, doctors said she would have a valve inserted into her breathing tube to help her talk. They said she could breathe on her own but they weren't going to remove the tube immediately. She was shot in the left side of her brain and doctors have said she had weakness on her right side.

Her hospital, TIRR Memorial Hermann, last week said it would not provide any more information on her condition.

Kelly has just over two months before liftoff, targeted for April 19. There's considerable training between now and then for the mission, almost certainly with long hours and few days off for the crew. The six astronauts will go into quarantine a week before the launch, with limited access to family members.

Kelly - whose identical twin Scott currently is commander of the International Space Station - has flown three times aboard space shuttles. April's trip to the International Space Station will be his fourth. He will lead a veteran, all-male, American-Italian crew.

The mission already was set to be one of the highest profile shuttle flights ever. It will be Endeavour's last voyage and the next-to-last for the entire 30-year shuttle program, and will feature the delivery of an elaborate physics experiment by a Nobel prize winner.

Scott Kelly will be back on Earth by the time his brother flies. He's due to land in a Russian Soyuz capsule in mid-March, closing out a 5½-month mission.