Astronaut Mark Kelly has written a children's book
Husband of former US Rep. Gabrielle Giffords Mark Kelly will release a children鈥檚 book this October titled 鈥淢ousetronaut: A Partially True Story.鈥�
Kelly, who worked as an astronaut but retired this fall, says the story will follow a mouse who is selected to participate in an outer space mission and that he was inspired by real mice on board one of his spaceships. On one voyage, 18 mice were brought onto one of his crafts for experiments.
鈥淪eventeen of them, as soon as we got into zero gravity, stayed latched on to the side of the cage,鈥� Kelly . 鈥淏ut one of them seemed comfortable through the whole mission, like he was enjoying it.鈥�
Kelly said he thinks the fact that so many children want to become astronauts means the book will appeal to young readers. He said he鈥檚 wanted to write the book for years, but that his job as an astronaut made it hard to find the time.
鈥淲颈迟丑 NASA as an employer, it becomes a little complicated,鈥� he told the Associated Press. 鈥淣ow that I'm retired, I can take time to do this.鈥�
The book will be published through Simon & Schuster and illustrated by artist C.F. Payne.
Kelly previously collaborated with his wife on her memoir 鈥淕abby: A Story of Courage and Hope.鈥�
Molly Driscoll is a Monitor contributor.
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