Mark Kelly speaks at his 2023 induction ceremony into the Astronaut Hall of Fame. (credit: NASA/Chris Chamberland)

In defense of Mark Kelly

by Steve Lindsey and Garrett Reisman
Monday, December 8, 2025

We’re astronauts. Both of us have flown with Senator Mark Kelly aboard the Space Shuttle and entrusted him with our lives. He is beyond reproach as an American patriot, and we never expected to hear him called a traitor or investigated and threatened with a court martial.

While at NASA, we did not bring politics into the cockpit. Service to the country always comes before politics. Comparing notes now, we realize that we have voted on opposite ends of the political spectrum. But this moment transcends politics and goes directly at the heart of our shared American values.

We joined NASA because it represents the pinnacle of American possibility and achievement: using science, ingenuity, and team work to explore the heavens and change the world. We both wore the American flag on our uniforms with pride because it represented the noble founding values and principles of our great nation including liberty, equality, freedom of speech, due process, and the rule of law.

Both of us have spent time in Russia and in other countries where there was no rule of law, only the rule of an autocratic leader. We are deeply concerned that America is hurtling in that direction, and the attack on Senator Kelly is further evidence.

Senator Kelly and the other five members of Congress who have served in the armed forces or with the CIA are being persecuted because they simply stated a legal fact: under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, American service members are required to follow only lawful orders. This speech is protected by the First Amendment and is factually correct.

We find it bewildering and shameful that President Trump would describe the statements of Senator Kelly and other members of Congress as seditious and “punishable by DEATH,” followed by Secretary of Defense Hegseth announcing that an investigation has been opened into Senator Kelly. This kind of autocratic behavior has no place in America. If we do not stop this now, any American who dares to disagree with a political position or question the government elected to serve them may be next.

We both took oaths, in the Armed Forces and at NASA, to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. The Constitution holds the Government accountable to the people—not the other way around. Adherence to and defense of this document has kept our republic intact for nearly 250 years. Patrick Henry, one of our founding fathers, said, “The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government – lest it come to dominate our lives and interests”.

Everyone who chooses to serve in our armed forces or straps into a rocket wonders how they will react when tested. Will they rise to the occasion when faced with a moment of truth? Or will they falter and wilt in the face of fear. We all hope and pray that we will be our best selves at that moment, and that our colleagues will have our backs. America is in such a moment now. We ask our fellow Americans to defend the Constitution as we have: to look any evil in the eye, stand up for our democracy, and defend all Americans’ rights—and hold accountable those who would take them away.

Col. Steve Lindsey spent 24 years in the Air Force and received among other medals the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Legion of Merit. He spent 16 years at NASA, piloting or commanding five Space Shuttle missions and served as Chief of the Astronaut Office.

Dr. Garrett Reisman has a PhD from Caltech, spent 95 days on the International Space Station, performed three spacewalks, flew on all three Space Shuttles and worked as Director of Space Operations at SpaceX.

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