James Kelly | |
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| Born | James McNeal Kelly (1964-05-14)May 14, 1964 (age 60) Burlington, Iowa, U.S. |
| Other names | Vegas |
| Education | United States Air Force Academy (BS) University of Alabama (MS) |
| Space career | |
| NASA astronaut | |
| Rank | Colonel,USAF |
Time in space | 26d 17h 21m |
| Selection | NASA Group 16 (1996) |
| Missions | STS-102 STS-114 |
Mission insignia |   |
James McNeal "Vegas" Kelly (born May 14, 1964) is aNASAastronaut and aretiredColonel of theUnited States Air Force. He twice served as pilot onSpace Shuttle missions. James Kelly is not related toScott Kelly orMark Kelly.
Born inBurlington, Iowa, James Kelly graduated from Burlington Community High School in 1982. He received a B.S. degree in astronautical engineering from theUnited States Air Force Academy in 1986 and M.S. degree inaerospace engineering from theUniversity of Alabama in 1996.
Kelly received his commission from theUnited States Air Force Academy in May 1986 and was designated anAir Force Pilot in October 1987. He then reported to the426th F-15 Replacement Training Unit atLuke Air Force Base,Phoenix, Arizona for initialF-15A Eagle training. After completion, he was assigned to the67th Fighter Squadron,18th Fighter Wing atKadena Air Base inOkinawa.
During his tour in Japan, he was designated as an instructor pilot, evaluator pilot, and mission commander. He was reassigned in April 1992 toOtis Air National Guard Base inCape Cod, Massachusetts, as part of Project Total Force, where he continued flying the F-15 as an instructor and mission commander. He was selected for Air Force Test Pilot School atEdwards Air Force Base,Edwards, California, where he graduated in June 1994. After graduation, he was assigned to theAir Force Flight Test Center detachment atNellis Air Force Base inLas Vegas, Nevada, where he was a project test pilot and assistant operations officer. He was at Nellis when selected for the astronaut program.
He has logged over 2,500 flight hours in more than 35 different aircraft.
Selected by NASA in April 1996, Kelly reported to theJohnson Space Center in August 1996. Having completed two years of training and evaluation, he is qualified for selection as a pilot on aSpace Shuttleflight crew. He served as pilot on two shuttle missions. Initially, Kelly was assigned to the Astronaut Office Flight Support Branch where he served as a member of the Astronaut Support Personnel team responsible for shuttle launch preparation.
When this continued for a second day the shuttle was diverted and Kelly landed withDiscovery atEdwards Air Force Base,California. Mission duration was 333 hours, 33 minutes. Kelly was the pilot on this mission.
NASA Astronaut Group 15 ← NASA Astronaut Group 16 →NASA Astronaut Group 17 | |||||||
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