Born February 21, 1964 in Orange, New Jersey, Scott Kelly's career began after graduating from Mountain High School, West Orange by completing a degree in electrical engineering at the State University of New York Maritime College. Once his degree was awarded, Scott served as a fighter pilot in the US Navy, deployed around the world to the North Atlantic, Mediterranean Sea, Red Sea and Persian Gulf aboard the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier.

In 1993, Scott enroled in the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School, training to work as a test pilot. From 1994 to 1996, Scott tried out new fighters and equipment from a base in Maryland, contributing to his flight record of 3,400 flight hours in more than 30 different aircraft and with over 250 carrier landings.

Starting in April 1996, Scott worked with NASA from Johnson Space Center, serving on the STS-103 mission in 1999, which spent 8 days in space, installing new instruments and upgrading the Hubble Space Telescope.

Commander Kelly flew on the STS-118 mission to the International Space Station in 2007. Currently he is training as the commander of ISS Expedition-26, scheduled to launch in late 2010.

On STS-108, Scott Kelly worked as the pilot, responsible for the shuttle during launch and flying the Orbiter Discovery back to Earth once the mission was complete.

The mission itself was focused around repairing and upgrading the Hubble Space Telescope; with astronauts Steven L. Smith, John M. Grunsfeld, C. Michael Foale and Claude Nicollier working together to service the telescope over three grueling days of Extra Vehicular Activities (EVAs - Spacewalks).