Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords has flown from Houston to Cape Canaveral to watch tomorrow' s final launch of the Space Shuttle Endeavour, which will carry her husband, astronaut Mark Kelly, into space for the last time.

This was Giffords' first appearance in public since she was critically wounded in a mass shooting in January.  That she is well enough to make the trip is amazing enough.  More amazing, she walked onto the plane.

Giffords arrived at Houston’s Ellington Field with a group of people – including a nurse from TIRR Memorial Hermann – around 9 a.m.  Her vehicle drove right up to a waiting plane, and Giffords – guided by a second person—walked up the stairs into the aircraft.

Giffords has been in an intensive rehabilitation program at TIRR Memorial Hermann in Houston for months, recovering from a gunshot wound to the head.  She was shot at a political event in Tucson on January 8.  Six people were killed.

While Giffords and her team were waiting to take off, they posted a photo of her vantage point from the plane to her Twitter account.  The post says she is looking forward to some time away from the rehabilitation center and to seeing her husband launch again.  Her doctors say she'll return to Houston and TIRR after the launch.

More From Newstalk 860