City of Mobile recognizes Astronaut Kay Hire

Feb 25th, 2014

MOBILE, Ala. - Mayor Sandy Stimpson and the Mobile City Council declared February 25, 2014, as "Captain Kay Hire Day" in the City of Mobile.

Hire is a Mobile native and 1977 graduate of Murphy High School. She was selected as an astronaut by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in 1994 and has logged 711 hours in space in missions aboard the shuttles Columbia and Endeavour.

"We are proud to recognize Captain Hire for bringing honor and distinction to her hometown of Mobile," said Stimpson. "She represents the best and brightest of our city and truly has served as an outstanding ambassador for Mobile."

Hire was recognized by the council members during today's regular meeting, where she was presented with a proclamation declaring the day in her honor and with a key to the city where she was born and raised.

"We are pleased and excited to have Captain Hire back home in Mobile, where she will always be welcome," Gregory said. "She is an inspiration to all of our citizens, young and old."

Hire presented the City with a special Mardi Gras flag carried with her as a mission specialist during a 2010 flight on the Space Shuttle Endeavor. She said the flag traveled 5.7 million miles and completed 217 orbits of the Earth.

Hire earned a bachelor of science degree from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1981. In 1993, she became the first female in the U.S. military to be assigned to a combat aircrew as a Naval Reserve Officer. She was later recalled to active duty supporting Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom as a member of the U.S. Naval Central Command Staff.