“Roll Call: Heard on the Hill - ‘To the Moon, Alice’”

From Roll Call newspaper’s “Heard on the Hill” column:

To the Moon, Alice

While Gabrielle Giffords, the apparent Democratic frontrunner in Arizona’s 8th district to replace retiring Rep. Jim Kolbe (R-Ariz.), stumps for votes this July Fourth holiday, her boyfriend will be out of this world. Sure, he’s in love and all that, but we mean literally out of this world.

Giffords has been dating U.S. Navy Commander Mark Kelly for over a year. At press time, Kelly, a combat veteran of the first Persian Gulf War, was slated to pilot the Space Shuttle Discovery, scheduled to launch from the Kennedy Space Center.

“This is such an exciting weekend for Mark; we’re all so proud of him as he pilots the shuttle for the first time,” his gal/House candidate said. “It’s so fitting that it’s happening over the Fourth of July weekend - so many of us are still inspired by President Kennedy’s dream of exploring the new frontier.”

[Update: Space Shuttle Discovery lifted off from Kennedy Space Center on the Fourth of July at 11:38 AM Arizona time, and Gabrielle Giffords was there to support Mark and the rest of the crew at the launch of their heroic journey to the International Space Station. For updates on the mission (STS-121), and to watch coverage of it live on NASA TV, click here. To read about Cmdr. Mark Kelly, click here.]