Indeed, journalists have descended in droves on NASA news conferences - those with or about Kelly - in a way not seen since shuttle flight resumed in 2005 following the Columbia disaster.

It will be the 25th and final flight of Endeavour, NASA's youngest shuttle that was built to replace the Challenger and first soared in 1992, six years after the launch accident.

And it will be the second-to-last shuttle mission, as NASA winds down the 30-year shuttle program with one last fling by Atlantis in early summer.

Even the Nobel laureate whose $2 billion science experiment will be delivered to the International Space Station by the Endeavour crew doesn't seem to mind that his project is being overlooked.

"I have great admiration for Commander Kelly," said physicist Samuel Ting. "It takes great courage for him to do this. Really, it takes total dedication to do this."

Perhaps the only two people on the planet who bristle at all the attention are Kelly and his identical twin Scott, also an astronaut and a Navy captain. They repeatedly have tried - but failed - to steer attention back to their space missions.

Scott abruptly walked away from a series of interviews after he returned from the space station in mid-March; he kept being asked about his brother and sister-in-law. Two days later, Mark canceled all private interviews that already had been set up with reporters at Johnson. He took part in the traditional crew news conference and talked about his wife, but kept it short.

Seldom does a single individual take over an entire space mission like this.

John Glenn was the exception when he returned to orbit in 1998 aboard Discovery at age 77. It's still called the John Glenn flight, even by NASA. Never mind there were six others on board and science experiments galore.

That's the only time a sitting president has ever attended a shuttle launch - at least until Friday. President Bill Clinton was on hand to see the original Mercury astronaut, the retiring senator, soar.

Now it's Kelly's turn. The Mark Kelly flight.

The five men who will ride into space with Kelly have circled around him, like a band of brothers.

"We also went through it," said astronaut Gregory Chamitoff. "We know Gabby and Mark really well. It's hard for us to see them go through this."