Statement Supporting H. Res. 943, Remembering the Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster
By Congressman Tom Feeney (R-FL)
Remarks on the Floor of the U.S. House of Representatives
Given February 6, 2008
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of House Resolution 943. With this resolution, the House of Representatives joins with all Americans to solemnly remember the loss of the Space Shuttle Challenger 22 years ago on January 28, 1986.
Many Americans remember where they were on that cold January morning when the Shuttle Challenger leapt from its launch pad. After receiving the call “Challenger go at throttle up,” Challenger disintegrated in clear blue skies just 73 seconds into its flight.
We were stunned. One moment Challenger was flawlessly flying on a beautiful winter morning. Then without warning, it was gone.
America turned to mourn the seven astronauts who gave the ultimate sacrifice for the advancement of exploration and discovery:
· Michael Smith,
· Dick Scobee,
· Judith Resnik,
· Ronald McNair,
· Ellison Onizuka,
· Gregory Jarvis, and
· Christa McAuliffe, a schoolteacher from Concord New Hampshire selected to be the first member of the Teacher in Space Project.
That evening, President Reagan spoke from the Oval Office to comfort a grieving nation.
Millions of children had watched the launch because Christa McAuliffe was to later teach science lessons from space. Instead, we were reminded of a deeper lesson. Reagan said:
“I want to say something to the schoolchildren of America who were watching the live coverage of the shuttle’s takeoff. I know it is hard to understand, but sometimes painful things like this happen. It’s all part of the process of exploration and discovery. It’s all part of taking a chance and expanding man’s horizons. The future doesn’t belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave. The Challenger crew was pulling us into the future, and we’ll continue to follow them.”
Reagan concluded his address by saying:
“The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us by the manner in which they lived their lives. We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and slipped the surly bonds of earth to "touch the face of God."
22 years have passed. America has kept its word. We haven’t forgotten the Challenger crew.
Human spaceflight is mankind’s most difficult endeavor. America has achieved so many successes that spaceflight seems routine.
Yet every generation unexpectedly bears witness to spaceflight’s inherent dangers. Before Challenger, the Apollo 1 crew was lost on Pad 34 on January 27, 1967 in an accident simply known as “The Fire.” After Challenger, we waited on February 1, 2003 at the Kennedy Space Center’s Landing Strip for the voyagers of Columbia who never returned home. January and February are NASA’s cruelest months
On each occasion, the people of NASA grieved terribly. But they learned from adversity and then rededicated themselves to their mission.
America landed on the moon after The Fire. After Challenger, the Shuttle flew again to pursue scientific discovery and begin constructing the International Space Station. After Columbia, we returned to flight and will complete and use the International Space Station. Then we will turn our dreams to exploring beyond earth orbit by establishing outposts on the moon and then going further beyond.
Exploration, journey, and bravery define the American people. Each of us comes from a heritage where someone with great courage took a passage to a new beginning – many times with difficult endings. But the living stubbornly persevered, pushed back vast frontiers, and built a great and glorious nation. Adversity – including the loss of Challenger’s crew – can never extinguish this American spirit.
Mr. Speaker, I am proud to support this Resolution honoring the brave and dedicated crew of Challenger. I urge my colleagues to support House Resolution 943. With that, I reserve the balance of my time.
Statement Supporting H.Con.Res. 287 --
Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Explorer I
By Congressman Tom Feeney (R-FL)
Remarks on the Floor of the U.S. House of Representatives
Given February 6, 2008
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H. Con. Res. 287, offered by my friend and Space Subcommittee Chairman Mark Udall, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the launch of Explorer I, America’s first satellite. With this launch, America became a spacefaring nation.
Unlike the Soviets, who four months earlier had launched Sputnik 1 in secrecy, America’s space program was carried in full public view. Our first attempt to launch a satellite – Vanguard I – ended in failure. As a consequence, some suggested that our preeminence as a world power was jeopardized.
Explorer I proved otherwise. This successful launch came through a collaboration of brilliant and dedicated scientists and engineers led by Wernher von Braun, who designed the launch vehicle known as the Jupiter C; Dr. Charles Pickering, director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, who designed the satellite; and Dr. James Van Allen, who designed the main instrument carried aboard Explorer 1.
On the night of January 31, 1958, Explorer I lifted off from Pad 26A at Cape Canaveral, Florida, Almost two hours passed before a ground station in California confirmed the satellite’s successful orbit. America was now on a path to achieve space preeminence.
Unlike Sputnik I, Explorer I did more than demonstrate the ability to place an object into orbit. It had a valuable scientific purpose. Explorer I consisted of a Geiger counter that detected cosmic rays, temperature sensors, and a micrometeorite impact microphone. These instruments discovered radiation belts – now named after Dr. James Van Allen -- that encircle the Earth.
Explorer I stopped transmitting data on May 23, 1958 when its batteries died. But it stayed in orbit until March 31, 1970 and completed about 58,000 orbits around the Earth.
Explorer I’s legacy was far greater than anticipated. Few imagined how satellites would maintain our nation’s security and economy, and extend man’s reach to the far corners of our solar system.
Government and private enterprise, scientists and engineers, worked together to exploit and expand the capabilities of space. Today, a vibrant and critical commercial industry builds and launches sophisticated satellites.
In Earth orbit, satellites forecast weather and measure surface winds and other climate variables; monitor land-use patterns and remote sensing; help farmers gauge the health of their crops; transmit data, radio and television signals into our homes and to businesses around the world; and provide the infrastructure for the global positioning system, enabling the capability to accurately navigate to virtually any point on Earth.
Beyond Earth orbit, satellites have visited every planet in the solar system except for Pluto, although a mission is underway to visit this far-away planet in 2015. Satellites have carried rovers to the surface of Mars, they’ve captured samples of interstellar dust and retuned them to Earth, photographed the heavens with exceptional clarity, measured background temperatures and radiation to high precision, and landed on a moon of Saturn.
Explorer I also led to our human spaceflight program under which America learned to orbit the earth, explore the moon, and live for extended periods aboard the International Space Station.
H.Con.Res. 287 commemorates the achievements of the Explorer I team, and acknowledges its role as the impetus for what has become a critical part of America’s greatness. I am pleased to be an original cosponsor of this bill, along with my good friend and Ranking Republican Member of the Science and Technology Committee, Ralph Hall, I urge all Members to support it.