Mark Kelly: “this week, NASA Associate Administrator, former astronaut, and my friend Colonel Robert Cabana announced his retirement…”

“this week, NASA Associate Administrator, former astronaut, and my friend Colonel Robert Cabana announced his retirement, effective December 31, after more than 38 years of public service to NASA. In his current capacity as Associate Administrator, Colonel Cabana served as the Agency's highest ranking civil servant, third highest ranking NASA official, and the senior adviser to NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy. Colonel Cabana's legacy, among many things, includes a significant contribution to the Nation's human spaceflight program and decades of energetic leadership at the Agency. On a personal level, he played an important leadership role within the astronaut corps, including as chief of NASA's Astronaut Office when I was as an astronaut and during my selection and early years at NASA. I am honored to congratulate Bob on his retirement and thank him for his many years of service. Born in Minneapolis, Bob graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy, became a naval aviator, and graduated with distinction from the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School in 1981. During his military career, he logged over 7,000 hours in more than 50 different kinds of aircraft. He retired as a colonel from the U.S. Marine Corps in September 2000. Bob was selected as an astronaut candidate in 1985 and went on to log 38 days in space during four shuttle missions. He piloted the Space Shuttle Discovery on missions STS-41 in 1990 and STS-53 in 1992.…”