- Scott J. Kelly
- Commander, U.S. Navy
NASA Astronaut
U.S. Navy Commander Scott J. Kelly was Born February 21, 1964 in Orange, New Jersey, but considers West Orange, New Jersey his hometown. He graduated from Mountain High School in West Orange, in 1982, received a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from the State University of New York Maritime College in 1987, and a Master of Science degree in aviation systems from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, in 1996.
Following graduation, Scott served as a fighter pilot in the F–14 Tomcat at NAS Oceana in Virginia Beach, in Fighter Squadron 143, “The World Famous Pukin’ Dogs,” and made overseas deployments to the North Atlantic, Mediterranean Sea, Red Sea and Persian Gulf aboard the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN–69). While in the Dogs, Scott was selected to attend the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School at Patuxent River, Maryland. As a test pilot Scott flew all versions of the F–14 Tomcat and F/A–18 Hornet. Scott was the first pilot to fly an F–14 with an experimental digital flight control system installed and performed subsequent high angle of attack and departure testing.
Scott has logged over 3,500 flight hours in more than 30 different aircraft and has over 250 carrier landings.
Selected by NASA in April 1996, Scott served as pilot on STS–103 in 1999, a mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope and has logged over 191 hours in space. Following his space mission, Scott served as the Director of Operations in Star City, Russia as NASA lead representative and later, as a back–up crewmember for International Space Station (ISS) Expedition–5. He is currently assigned to command STS–118, a mission to the International Space Station scheduled for July 2006. In the meantime he serves as the Astronaut Office’s ISS Branch Chief. Scott’s previous Aquarius experience was as the Commander of NEEMO 4. Having spent much time in and around the sea since childhood, Scott is very interested in the opportunity to serve as part of the NEEMO 8 crew, both from a personal and professional perspective. Scott obtained his initial SCUBA certification in August of 1979 and holds a US Coast Guard Third Mates License for Steam and Motor Vessels of any gross tonnage upon the oceans.
Being so impressed with the successes of the NASA NEEMO program, Scott considers Bill Todd his underwater hero.
Scott is married to the former Leslie S. Yandell of Atlanta, Georgia. They have two children. His parents, Richard and Patricia Kelly, reside in Flagler Beach, Florida.