Rep. Giffords In Florida For Friday's Shuttle Launch
CAPE CANAVERAL (CBS4) - Critically wounded in a shooting in Tucson, Arizona last January, U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords has recovered enough to see her husband's space shuttle launch this Friday.
Late Wednesday morning Giffords boarded a NASA plane in Houston for a flight to the Kennedy Space Center. She landed just before 1 p.m. at Patrick Air Force Base.
Her husband, Mark Kelly, arrived at Cape Canaveral on Tuesday to prepare for the nation's next-to-last space shuttle mission.
"It's something she's been looking forward to for a long time," Kelly said of his wife's attendance at the launch. "She's been working really hard to make sure that her doctors would permit her to come. She's more than medically ready to be here, and she's excited about making this trip."
NASA officials said Endeavour's final launch is expected to attract more than a half-million visitors including President Barack Obama. The only downside is all the traffic tie-ups expected before and after the planned 3:47 p.m. launch. The weather forecast for the day of the launch is favorable.
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