Gabrielle Giffords's Astronaut Husband to Resume Space Mission

By Champ Clark

02/04/2011 at 01:00 PM EST

Astronaut Mark Kelly, husband of wounded U.S. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, announced Friday that he will resume training as commander of the space shuttle Endeavor.

On the mission, which is set to launch April 19, Kelly will join his twin brother Scott, currently commander of the International Space Station.

Kelly, 46, was in training for the mission, his fourth trip to space, when his wife, 40, was shot in the head during a Jan. 8 town-hall meeting with constituents outside a Tucson supermarket. The Arizona Congresswoman is currently recovering in a Houston hospital, where she is undergoing rehabilitation.

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"I am looking forward to rejoining my STS-134 crew members and finishing our training for the mission," Kelly, 46, said in a statement released by NASA Friday. "I appreciate the confidence that my NASA management has in me and the rest of my space shuttle crew."

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