Mark Kelly, 46, took a leave of absence to be at his wife's side after she was shot through the head at a January 8 political event in Arizona that left six people dead and several wounded.

Kelly said he is confident his wife will be well enough to attend the scheduled April 19 liftoff from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

"She should be there for the launch. That's in my plan," Kelly said, speaking to journalists about his decision to command the 14-day mission.

Kelly declined to give details about Giffords's condition or prognosis but said "her rehab doctor is incredibly impressed with her progress."

When asked if she verbally gave him approval to go into space, he answered: "I know her very well and she would be very comfortable with the decision I made."

A month ago, Kelly said, he thought he would be sitting in the same seat at his wife's side in the intensive care unit for two, four, or six months.

"As she progressed it started to become evident she was not going to be in the ICU for even two weeks," Kelly said.

With his wife facing a grueling schedule of rehabilitation that would fill her days in the Houston hospital where she is being treated, about two weeks ago he began to consider returning to head the mission.

"I started to think about STS 134, about the mission, my crew, and considering a bunch of other factors including what Gabrielle would like me to do, I ultimately made the decision that I would like to return," Kelly said.

His wife's family supports his decision, he said.

Peggy Whitson, head of the NASA astronaut office, said the US space agency was "glad to have Mark back."

"He is a veteran shuttle commander and knows well the demands of the job. We are confident in his ability to successfully lead this mission."

Those killed in the shooting, allegedly carried out by a disturbed loner, included a federal judge and a nine-year-old girl.

In Arizona, federal and state prosecutors agreed Friday that the suspect, Jared Lee Loughner, will be tried first on federal charges of attempted assassination of a member of Congress.

NASA had named a backup commander to train with the other five crew members, but Whitson said Kelly's experience and many months of mission-specific training made him the best choice.

"It is still better to choose the fellow who has been training for a year and half to reduce the overall mission risk," she said.

The mission would be Kelly's fourth and Endeavour's last.

Kelly's twin brother, Scott, is also an astronaut and is currently commanding the International Space Station.

Endeavour's crew will deliver a state-of-the-art cosmic ray particle physics detector.

Kelly said the alphamagnetic spectrometer will sit on the outside of the space station and collect flying space particles, looking for clues about dark energy and dark matter that existed in the early part of the universe.

The space shuttle Discovery is scheduled to embark on its final mission to the International Space Station on February 24.

The three remaining US shuttles are due to become museum pieces once the final shuttle mission takes place.

The final shuttle flight, for Atlantis, is scheduled for June 28, after which the famed fleet will be retired.

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