Space double: Astronaut twins to join up in orbit
CAPE CANAVERAL, FL
Astronaut Scott Kelly is circling the planet, fresh into a
5 1/2-month space station mission. His identical twin, Mark, will join
him next year, if NASA's shuttle schedule holds up.
Together, they will become the first blood relatives to meet up
in space.
"It's something we hoped would happen," Mark said. "It wasn't
done by design. But we're fortunate. I think it will be fun for
us."
Scott is the International Space Station's next commander. He
took off aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket early Friday -- texting and
joking with his brother right until launch -- and arrived at the
orbiting complex Saturday night.
Mark is space shuttle Endeavour's next commander. He's due to
take off at the end of February and knock on the space station door
March 1. It's currently slated to be NASA's last shuttle flight.
Don't expect any handshakes when the Kellys unite more than 200
miles up. The 46-year-old brothers -- Navy captains and former
fighter pilots -- have never shaken each other's hands and don't
plan to start just because the space station cameras are rolling.
Rather, count on embraces and even arm-wrestling when the
hatches pop open between the space station and Endeavour, and the
world does a double take.
For now, anyway, there's a little difference -- Scott is
clean-shaven and Mark has a mustache.
The Kellys promise no gags or matching outfits in space. They
insist they've never done any of that.
So how will they mark the historic occasion? The Associated
Press posed the question in a recent interview.
"We're going to arm-wrestle," replied Mark.
"I was going to say the same exact thing," said Scott.
They laughed, then speculated on which twin would win, and
whether it might end up a draw, with the two rotating around each
other in weightlessness.
"I'll win because I'll have more zero-g experience," Scott
said.
"By that point, your bones will be like powder. Your muscles
will be atrophied," Mark countered.
While there have been father-and-son astronauts and cosmonauts,
decades have separated their space missions.
A husband and wife flew together in space in 1992 -- Mark Lee and
Jan Davis -- but NASA permitted it only because they were not
married at the time they were picked for the shuttle mission and
had no children. They divorced several years later.
For the Kellys, it wasn't meant to come together like this.
Mark should have been up and back from space by now. Endeavour's
launch had been scheduled for July, but it was delayed to make
improvements to the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, the primary cargo.
Between them, they have five shuttle flights. Endeavour's trip
will make six.
Even if NASA had agreed to put them on the same shuttle flight,
which brother would be commander and which one co-pilot? "We'd
have to arm-wrestle again," Mark said.
Endeavour will have to hit its Feb. 27 launch date or come
awfully close, if the Kellys-in-space reunion is to stay on track.
Scott Kelly will return to Earth in a Soyuz in mid-March, brotherly
visit or no.
They expect their parents -- retired police officers -- to be
stressed out more than usual as Endeavour's flight nears, not to
mention their 94-year-old grandmother, who still asks if they might
prefer becoming a lawyer or dentist.
"Fortunately, my brother's the one that's going to have to deal
with it because I'll be in space," Scott said.
The twins grew up in West Orange, N.J., fists constantly flying
at one another. They went to different colleges, but ended up
together in the Navy's 1993 test pilot school class and, on
occasion, shared jet cockpits. Unable to choose between them, NASA
accepted both as astronauts in 1996.
The brothers live in Houston, and each has two daughters from
previous marriages. Mark is now married to U.S. Rep. Gabrielle
Giffords, D-Ariz. Scott is single.
Mark will be picking up his brother's mail for the next 5 1/2
months and paying his bills.
"Flying in space is a privilege and I try not to forget that,"
Scott told the AP before departing the planet. Flying with his
brother will be "icing on the cake."
"It will be certainly unique, won't it?" added Mark.