Rep. Gabrielle Giffords is making her first public outing since being shot in the head in Tucson this January. She boarded a NASA jet in Houston today that's flying to Florida's Kennedy Space Center, the spot from where astronaut husband Mark Kelly will launch into space on Friday as part of the shuttle Endeavor's last mission. You can check out some raw, hazy AP footage of Giffords boarding the plane up top. She walked from her car and up the ramp without assistance.

Don't expect to really "see" Giffords much during Friday's jaunt, however, as her staff "said she would not be making any public appearances during the Endeavor's launch."

What will Giffords see from afar, though, as her first images of this great country in months? A veritable king's army of smelly drunks:

There could be as many as 700,000 people gathered to witness space shuttle Endeavour's final mission in Central Florida on Friday afternoon.

"I'm thinking this is like the world's largest tailgate party," said Rob Varley, the executive director of the Space Coast Office of Tourism.

Keep your shirts on, fellas.