US Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords has returned home to her astronaut husband, leaving behind a Houston hospital where she began to rebuild her life after a gunman shot her in the head five months ago.

The first photos of US politician Gabrielle Giffords since she was shot in the head in a mass shooting five months ago were released early today.

A space shuttle took flight for the next-to-last time as US Representative Gabrielle Giffords, still recovering from a gunshot wound and hidden from public view, watched her astronaut husband rocket through the clouds in a deafening roar.