Senator Kelly is the son of two police officers, and he attended public schools from elementary school through the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and U.S. Naval Postgraduate School. As a naval aviator, he served on the aircraft carrier the U.S.S. Midway and flew 39 combat missions in Operation Desert Storm. Senator Kelly was later selected as an astronaut in 1996 in the same class as his twin brother Scott. He flew his first of four missions into space in 2001 aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour and retired from the Navy and NASA after commanding the final flight of Endeavour in 2011. Senator Kelly was sworn into his Senate seat on December 2, 2020 to finish the term of the late Senator John McCain. He lives in Tucson with his wife, former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords.