Gabrielle Giffords to attend husband’s shuttle take-off

Astronaut Mark Kelly says his wife, US Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, has been cleared to attend his space shuttle launch after recovering steadily from a brain injury sustained in a shooting.

The Democratic lawmaker was shot once through the head during a January 8 shooting rampage that killed six people, including a federal judge and a nine-year-old girl, at an outdoor meeting she was hosting in Tuscon, Arizona.

Msw Giffords was transferred to TIRR Memorial Hermann rehabilitation hospital in Houston, Texas, in late January.

“I’ve met with her doctors, her neurosurgeon and her doctors. And... they’ve given us permission to take her down to the launch,” Nasa astronaut Mr Kelly, the congresswoman’s husband, told CBS Evening News with Katie Couric.

Asked about his wife’s reaction to the news, Mr Kelly responded: “she said ‘awesome’ and pumped her fist.”

Ms Giffords is recovering from a bullet that tore through her brain’s left hemisphere, which controls speech and movement for the right side of the body.

Mr Kelly is the commander of the space shuttle Endeavour’s final mission, scheduled to be launched on Friday from Nasa’s Kennedy Space Centre at Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Ms Giffords has said she wants to attend the launch, and Dong Kim, the Memorial Hermann neurosurgeon who oversees Ms Giffords’s care, indicated her wish will be granted.

The congresswoman is re-habilitating her right arm and leg through therapy that includes pushing a grocery cart, playing indoor golf and bowling, according to the Republic.

Alleged gunman Jared Loughner has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.