Astronaut, author and U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., appeared to be a top contender as Vice President Kamala Harris’ Democratic running mate pick at least as of Monday morning — and if he were yet to be picked, could bring a dramatic life story to the ticket.

Harris is aiming to defeat Republican former President Donald Trump and his vice-presidential nominee, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, in the race to take the Oval Office.

Kelly enjoyed the triumph of rocketing into space four times as a NASA astronaut — and also suffered gut-wrenching tragedy when his wife, former Arizona U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords, was shot in the head in a 2011 assassination attempt. 

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He shared details of his life as an author of two books written with Giffords (he’s also the author of four astronaut-themed children’s books). 

“Whether it was from my time in the Navy and at NASA, serving in the United States Senate, or visiting our troops overseas: I’ve learned that when your country asks you to serve, you always answer the call,” Kelly posted to X on Sunday, leading many to think she could be adding him to the ticket. 

The choice of picks appeared to be narrowing down quickly on Monday. 

Kelly was born in New Jersey in 1964. 

He flew 39 missions as a U.S. Navy aviator during the Gulf War, and served aboard four space shuttle missions, two as commander of the spacecraft. 

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He defeated Republican incumbent Martha McSally to win his Senate seat in 2020. 

Kelly and Giffords married on Nov. 10, 2007. She was nearly murdered little more than three years later, on Jan. 6, 2011, while greeting constituents in Tucson, Arizona. 

Commander Mark Kelly, right, is assisted by United Space Alliance suit technician Andre Denard prior to the April 2011 launch of space shuttle Endeavour. (NASA via Getty Images)

“Gabby: A Story of Courage and Hope,” released at the end of 2011, chronicled their journey together before and then after the tragedy, which ended Giffords’ political career.

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“Gabby always loved playing with my wedding ring,” Kelly writes. “At almost every meal, she’d slip the ring off my finger and move it from her thumb to her forefinger to her middle finger. It was her little ritual, her way of fidgeting.”

“Her eyes remained closed, tubes were everywhere …”

That ritual proved the first sign of hope as she lay unconscious five days after she was nearly killed. 

“Suddenly, as she held my hand … she actually pulled the ring off and began to move it around in her fingers, just like always … Her eyes remained closed, tubes were everywhere, but she was somehow able to direct the fingers of her one good hand to rediscover her old pastime.”

He added, “I was more than surprised. I was overwhelmed.”

Gabby Giffords, former representative from Arizona, left, and Sen. Mark Kelly, a Democrat from Arizona, in Statuary Hall ahead of a State of the Union address at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, March 7, 2024.  (Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Just four months after his wife was nearly murdered, Kelly was “awaiting the last launch of the space shuttle Endeavour.”

Kelly was the commander of the spacecraft, which proved to be the last mission into space for both the Endeavour and for Kelly. 

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Kelly and Giffords tackled the experience from a more politically entangled in “Enough: Our Fight to Keep America Safe from Gun Violence,” which they co-authored with Harry Jaffe in 2014.

Sen. Mark Kelly and Vice President Kamala Harris. Kelly was considered a finalist as a vice presidential pick for the 2024 Democratic ticket.  (Getty Images)

The book is framed, of course, by the horrific shooting in Tucson, when a man unleashed a torrent of bullets from a handgun. 

Giffords survived. But six people were killed and 15 others were wounded.

“Gabby and I fear the country has veered off course when it comes to one important issue: how we relate to guns,” the couple wrote in the book.

“A basic freedom that both Gabby and I wholeheartedly embrace, the right to bear arms, has become radicalized.”

A Texas man was sentenced to 40 years in prison as part of a plea agreement after pleading guilty to murdering his newlywed wife.

Jared James Dicus’s sentencing was handed down on Wednesday by Judge Gary Chaney after chopping 21-year-old Anggy Diaz’s head off and leaving it in the shower in 2023.

Dicus, now 23, pleaded guilty to murder and his earliest parole date will not be until 2043. The Waller County District Attorney’s Office consulted with Diaz’s family before finalizing the plea deal and sentencing.

During the pre-trial phase of the case, potential mental health issues were raised regarding Dicus’s competency to stand trial, but he was considered competent to stand trial after a court-ordered examination according to a statement released by the Waller County District Attorney’s Office.

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As part of the plea deal, Dicus waived his right to appeal the verdict, the sentence and any potential defense, including an insanity defense. He also waived any post-conviction writ of habeas corpus.

“Waller County does not tolerate domestic violence. Heinous crimes like this one will not go unanswered,” Waller County District Attorney Sean Whittmore said in the statement. “We will seek justice for the victims of domestic violence and send a message to the perpetrators that here, we fight for our victims.”

Diaz, who had worked as counter help at a local business, was originally from Nicaragua and was initially in the care of an aunt when she first arrived in the U.S., her family said last year.

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Jared James Dicus and Anggy Diaz were married at the Waller County Courthouse in October 2022.  (Waller County Judge Trey Duhon)

Dicus was charged in January 2023 with murdering Diaz after marrying her three months earlier. Waller County Sheriff’s Office deputies found Diaz on the couple’s bedroom floor in a pool of blood with multiple stab wounds in her back, and what appeared to be her head was located in the shower.

Waller County Sheriff Troy Guidry said evidence showed that a kitchen knife was the murder weapon and that “all parts and pieces were recovered.”

After Diaz’s death last year, Dicus confessed to investigators that he murdered his wife.