If all goes according to plan, the launch of Space Shuttle Discovery on May 31 will mark the first time a member of Congress watches his or her spouse blast into space.

The member is Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-8), and the spouse is her husband Mark Kelly, who will command STS-124 and its delivery of a payload to the International Space Station.

Kelly has piloted two previous Space Shuttle missions, but this marks the first occasion on which Rep. Giffords will be on hand for the launch.

It will cap a space-themed week for the Congresswoman, which begins May 25 when she will attend a reception at the University of Arizona to celebrate the touchdown of the Phoenix Mars lander.