--- title: "NASA Astronaut Runs for Senate, Warns Of “Retreat From Science”" description: "Former NASA astronaut Mark Kelly announced Tuesday that he's running for Senate in Arizona — and positioned himself as a defender of science." date: "2019-02-12" modified: "2019-02-12" authors: - name: "Jon Christian" job_title: "Executive Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-astronaut-senate" categories: - "NASA" - "Space" tags: - "NASA" - "politics" - "space" - "the digest" --- # NASA Astronaut Runs for Senate, Warns Of “Retreat From Science” ![Former NASA astronaut Scott Kelly announced Tuesday that he's running for Senate in Arizona — and positioned himself as a defender of science.]() *\Image: NASA\* ## Space Candidate Former NASA astronaut Mark Kelly announced Tuesday that he's running for Senate in Arizona — and he's positioning himself as a defender of science during an era when it's under threat. "We’ve seen this retreat from science and data and facts, and if we don’t take these issues seriously, we can’t solve these problems," Kelly said in an [announcement video](). "We’re going to need to bring people together from all parts of the state and all walks of life." ## Gravity Well Kelly is a highly accomplished astronaut — he flew [four space shuttle missions]() and spent nearly a [year in space]() so that NASA could compare his DNA to that of his Earth-bound identical twin brother, Scott. Back on Earth, Kelly hopes to [win the seat]() of John McCain, the long-serving Arizona senator who died in 2018. Unlike McCain, Kelly is running as a Democrat. ## Blast Off Kelly is presenting himself as a problem solver who weighs evidence and resists special interests. It's an approach befitting an accomplished engineer and astronaut, but also one likely to ruffle feathers in D.C., according to Kelly. "Our fight to improve our gun laws and my commitment to tackling climate change and ending the outrageous influence corporate money has on our politics means there are a lot of powerful interests who want to stop us," he [wrote in an email]() to supporters. **READ MORE:** [Former NASA Astronaut Mark Kelly Is Running for the US Senate in Arizona]() \[*The Verge*\] *Editor's note: A previous version of this story named "Scott Kelly" as the former astronaut running for Senate. We regret the error.* ## Author I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()