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  Congress Congratulates NASA on the 25th Anniversary of STS-1

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Author Topic:   Congress Congratulates NASA on the 25th Anniversary of STS-1
Robert Pearlman
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Posts: 42986
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 04-11-2006 11:13 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
On April 7, the House of Representatives passed by a vote of 422 to 0 a resolution (H. Con. Res. 366) to congratulate the National Aeronautics and Space Administration on the 25th anniversary of the first flight of the Space Transportation System; to honor Commander John Young and the Pilot Robert Crippen, who flew space shuttle Columbia on April 12-14, 1981 on its first orbital test flight; and to commend the men and women of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and all those supporting America's space program for their accomplishments and their role in inspiring the American people.

Members of Congress spoke on the floor of the House in support of the resolution and the space shuttle's long service to our space program. Points members made in their remarks include:

  • Praise for the men and women who have worked in the shuttle program day-in and day-out at its inception, now and into the future.
  • Remarks that the shuttle was the first reusable spacecraft to be flown into orbit without the benefit of previous unmanned orbital test flights, and was the first spacecraft to land on a conventional runway.
  • Accolades for its capacity to carry twice the crewmembers of its predecessors, to launch large scientific instruments such as the Hubble Space Telescope, the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, as well as interplanetary probes like Galileo and Ulysses.
  • Comments that the shuttle was then, and remains today, the most dependable and most technologically advanced spacecraft in the world.
  • Noting that the shuttle's managers, engineers, astronauts, contractors and designers have long called the Houston region their home. They are the people who have made our Johnson Space Center America's "laboratory of the impossible," and for 25 years have stretched both the technological capacity and the collective imagination of the American people.
  • A statement that astronauts are the most visible faces on space shuttle missions, and while extending the utmost praise to Young and Crippen for their extraordinary talent and boldness, it was the highly skilled and competent NASA and contractor workforce that made this shuttle mission possible. As with the astronauts, America needed its best and brightest to build and launch the space shuttle back in 1981 and it remains so today.
  • The space shuttle is widely considered the most complex machine ever built, and to date is the only spacecraft capable of putting into orbit large payloads. It is this capacity that enables NASA and its partners to build the International Space Station, which will pave the way back to the moon, Mars and beyond.
The resolution reads as follows:

H. CON. RES. 366

Whereas space shuttle Columbia was the first manned, reusable spacecraft that was flown into orbit without benefit of previous unmanned orbital test flights;

Whereas the space shuttle Columbia was the first spacecraft to launch with wings, using solid rocket boosters;

Whereas the space shuttle Columbia was the first reentry spacecraft to land on a conventional runway;

Whereas the space shuttle program has allowed the United States to partner with other nations to build and to inhabit the International Space Station;

Whereas the successful return to flight of the space shuttle represents the first leg of the nation's Vision for Space Exploration;

Whereas the men and women of America's Space Shuttle program have been instrumental in ensuring the nation's preeminence in space exploration for 25 years;

Whereas the very specialized and highly valued workforce of the space shuttle program will contribute greatly to the Vision for Space Exploration as we return to the moon and go on to Mars and beyond;

Whereas like the explorers Lewis and Clark who explored our great nation, John Young and Robert Crippen opened a new era of human exploration beyond our planet; and

Whereas heroes such as John Young and Robert Crippen are a great inspiration to our next generation of Americans as they stimulate interest in the study of math and science: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That the Congress-

  1. congratulates the National Aeronautics and Space Administration on the 25th anniversary of the first flight of the Space Transportation System;
  2. honors Commander John Young and the Pilot Robert Crippen, who flew space shuttle Columbia on April 12-14, 1981, on its first orbital test flight; and
  3. commends the men and women of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and all those supporting America's space program for their accomplishments and their role in inspiring the American people.

All times are CT (US)

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