HOUSTON — U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords appeared in front of a crowd of hundreds at a NASA awards ceremony in Houston.
ABC News reported on its website Monday night that Giffords stood up from her wheelchair to hug and kiss her astronaut husband, Mark Kelly, after he received the Spaceflight Medal.
ABC News says the 41-year-old Democrat from Tucson, Ariz., entered the auditorium at Space Center Houston while being pushed in the wheelchair. She smiled and waved at the crowd and received a standing ovation.
Giffords spokesman C.J. Karamargin confirmed that Giffords attended the ceremony.
Giffords has been in the Houston area undergoing rehabilitation since several weeks after the Jan. 8 shooting in Tucson that left her and 12 others wounded and six people dead.
© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.