Astronaut Mark Kelly to Publish Children's Picture Book

Posted on February 29, 2012

Astronaut Mark Kelly has signed a deal with with Paula Wiseman Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, to publish a children's book inspired by the mice he traveled in space with. Mousetronaut: A Partially True Story will be illustrated by C.F. Payne. It will be published on October 9, 2012.

Astronaut Mark Kelly flew with little "mice-tronauts" on his first spaceflight aboard space shuttle Endeavour in 2001. Mousetronaut tells the story of a small mouse that wants nothing more than to travel to outer space. The little mouse works as hard as the bigger mice to show readiness for the mission . . . and is chosen for the flight! While in space, the astronauts are busy with their mission when only the smallest member of the crew can save the day.

Kelly says, "After traveling in space over five million miles with these very small space explorers, I take great pleasure in telling their story. While astronauts get all of the credit, we are really just part of a larger (or in this case smaller) team."

Kelly told ABC News that there were 18 mice on his first flight and one of them seemed to really enjoy the trip, while the others were clinging to their cage.

Mark Kelly was a captain in the United States Navy when he commanded the final mission of space shuttle Endeavour in May of 2011. A veteran of four space flights to the International Space Station, he is a graduate of the United States Merchant Marine Academy and holds a masters degree from the US Naval Postgraduate School. As a naval aviator, Kelly flew 39 combat missions in Operation Desert Storm in 1991. Kelly's first book, Gabby: A Story of Courage and Hope, was co-written with his wife Gabrielle Giffords in collaboration with Jeffrey Zaslow and was a New York Times bestselling memoir.