James McNeal "Vegas" Kelly (born May 14, 1964) is a

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...

Astronaut and a

retired Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload. Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

of the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...

. He twice served as pilot on

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missions. James Kelly is not related to Scott Kelly or Mark Kelly.

Education

Born in Burlington, Iowa, James Kelly graduated from Burlington Community High School in 1982. He received a B.S. degree in astronautical engineering from the

United States Air Force Academy The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) is a United States service academy in El Paso County, Colorado, immediately north of Colorado Springs. It educates cadets for service in the officer corps of the United States Air Force and U ...

in 1986 and M.S. degree in aerospace engineering from the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and largest of the publi ...

in 1996.

Major achievements

Kelly received his commission from the

in May 1986 and was designated an Air Force Pilot in October 1987. He then reported to the 426th F-15 Replacement Training Unit at

Luke Air Force Base Luke Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States., effective 20 December 2007 It is located west of the central business district of Glendale, and west of Phoenix. Luke AFB is a major traini ...

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1,608,139 residents as of 2020. It is the fifth-most populous city in the United States, and the on ...

for initial F-15A Eagle training. After completion, he was assigned to the

67th Fighter Squadron The 67th Fighter Squadron "Fighting Cocks" is a fighter squadron of the United States Air Force, part of the 18th Operations Group at Kadena Air Base, Japan. The 67th is equipped with the F-15C/D Eagle. Mission The 67th Fighter Squadron is one ...

18th Fighter Wing 18 (eighteen) is the natural number following 17 and preceding 19. In mathematics * Eighteen is a composite number, its divisors being 1, 2, 3, 6 and 9. Three of these divisors (3, 6 and 9) add up to 18, hence 18 is a semiperfect number. ...

Kadena Air Base (IATA: DNA, ICAO: RODN) is a highly strategic United States Air Force base in the towns of Kadena and Chatan and the city of Okinawa, in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. It is often referred to as the "Keystone of the Pacific" because of its highl ...

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. During his tour in Japan, he was designated as an instructor pilot, evaluator pilot, and mission commander. He was reassigned in April 1992 to

Otis Air National Guard Base Otis Air National Guard Base is an Air National Guard installation located within Joint Base Cape Cod, a military training facility located on the western portion of Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. It was known ...

Cape Cod, Massachusetts Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of mainland Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer mont ...

, 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 at Edwards Air Force Base, Edwards, California, where he graduated in June 1994. After graduation, he was assigned to the Air Force Flight Test Center detachment at Nellis Air Force Base in Las 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.

Awards and honors

* Meritorious Service Medal (United States), Meritorious Service Medal * Air Force Commendation Medals (two) * Outstanding Unit Awards (two) * Combat Readiness Medals (two) * Distinguished Graduate in the class of 1986 at the U.S. Air Force Academy, with honors * Distinguished Graduate of Undergraduate Pilot Training at Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training at Sheppard Air Force Base, Wichita Falls, Texas * TOPGUN, Top Gun at F-15 Eagle, F-15 initial training at

* Distinguished Graduate and winner of the Liethen-Tittle Award for the Outstanding Graduate of the Air Force Test Pilot School, class 93B

NASA experience

Selected by NASA in April 1996, Kelly reported to the Johnson Space Center in August 1996. Having completed two years of training and evaluation, he is qualified for selection as a pilot on a

flight 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.

Space flight experience

* STS-102 ''Discovery'' (March 8, 2001 – March 21, 2001) was the eighth

mission to visit the International Space Station. The mission accomplishments included the delivery of the Expedition 2 crew and the contents of the ''Leonardo'' Multi-Purpose Logistics Module, the completion of two successful space walks, the return to Earth (planet), Earth of the Expedition 1 crew, as well as the return of ''Leonardo'', the reusable cargo carrier built by the Italian Space Agency. Mission duration was 307 hours and 49 minutes. Kelly was the pilot on this mission. * STS-114 ''Discovery'' (July 26, 2005 – August 9, 2005) was

's Return to Flight mission after the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, Space Shuttle ''Columbia '' disaster. The mission saw Kelly return to the International Space Station. During the time docked there were three spacewalks made which aimed to test procedures for Space Shuttle thermal protection system, thermal protection system repair. The mission was extended by a day due to bad weather at the Kennedy Space Center. When this continued for a second day the shuttle was diverted and Kelly landed with ''Discovery'' at Edwards Air Force Base, California. Mission duration was 333 hours, 33 minutes. Kelly was the pilot on this mission.

References

*
STS-114 James Kelly Crew Profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, James M. 1964 births Living people People from Burlington, Iowa United States Air Force Academy alumni United States Air Force officers University of Alabama alumni U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School alumni United States Air Force astronauts Space Shuttle program astronauts Military personnel from Iowa