NASA EXPERIENCE: Selected by NASA in April 1996, Kelly reported to the Johnson Space Center in August 1996.  Following completion of training, he was assigned technical duties in the Astronaut Office Spacecraft Systems/Operations Branch.  A veteran of two space flights, Kelly has logged over 497 hours in space.  He served as pilot on STS-103 in 1999, and was the mission commander on STS-118 in 2007.  Following STS-103, Kelly served as NASA’s Director of Operations in Star City, Russia.  He served as a back-up crewmember for ISS Expedition-5 and as the Astronaut Office Space Station Branch Chief.  Currently he is training as a Flight Engineer for ISS Expedition-25 and as the commander of ISS Expedition-26, scheduled to launch in October 2010.

SPACE FLIGHT EXPERIENCE: STS-103 (December 19-27, 1999) was an 8-day mission during which the crew successfully installed new instruments and upgraded systems on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Enhancing HST scientific capabilities required three space walks. The STS-103 mission was accomplished in 120 Earth orbits, traveling 3.2 million miles in 191 hours and 11 minutes.

STS-118 (August 8-21, 2007) was the 119th space shuttle flight, the 22nd flight to the station, and the 20th flight for Endeavour.  During the mission Endeavour's crew successfully added another truss segment, a new gyroscope and external spare parts platform to the International Space Station.  A new system that enables docked shuttles to draw electrical power from the station to extend visits to the outpost was activated successfully.  A total of four spacewalks (EVAs) were performed by three crew members.  Endeavour carried some 5,000 pounds of equipment and supplies to the station and returned to Earth with some 4,000 pounds of hardware and no longer needed equipment.  Traveling 5.3 million miles in space, the STS-118 mission was completed in 12 days, 17 hours, 55 minutes and 34 seconds.

JULY 2010