Mark Kelly and Gabby Giffords watch Endeavour flight

TUCSON, AZ (Tucson News Now) - Former Shuttle Commander Mark Kelly watched the Space Shuttle Endeavour fly over Tucson with his wife former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. A sight he made possible with a special request to NASA.

He put in the request for the Tucson flyover to honor his wife's legacy as a longtime advocate of space flight. He even put together the route over Tucson for NASA.

Kelly and Giffords recently moved back to Tucson and Kelly reportedly wanted Giffords to see the Shuttle one last time. It's probably a safe assumption, too, he wanted to see it because he commanded its last mission.

Kelly sat down with Tucson News Now's Mindy Blake after the flyover. He said, "This city has done so much for Gabby, so it was nice to be able to give something back."

The shuttle flew over around 11:15 Thursday morning at an altitude of about 1,500 feet.

Endeavour is currently on a cross-country flight, piggybacking on a 747, from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to its final destination; the California Science Center in Los Angeles.

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