[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 117 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 117

 Commemorating the 40th Anniversary of humanity's first landing on the 
 Moon, celebrating the success of the United States human space flight 
  program, and recognizing the accomplishments of NASA's human space 
                            flight centers.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 4, 2009

Mr. Culberson submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was 
          referred to the Committee on Science and Technology

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
 Commemorating the 40th Anniversary of humanity's first landing on the 
 Moon, celebrating the success of the United States human space flight 
  program, and recognizing the accomplishments of NASA's human space 
                            flight centers.

Whereas President John F. Kennedy inspired our Nation to new heights when he 
        remarked on May 25, 1961, ``I believe that this Nation should commit 
        itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a 
        man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth. No single space 
        project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more 
        important for the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so 
        difficult or expensive to accomplish'';
Whereas the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, at President 
        Kennedy's direction, worked diligently to land a man on the Moon;
Whereas the mission of Apollo 11, which departed Earth on July 16, 1969, was to 
        perform a manned lunar landing and return safely to Earth;
Whereas Apollo 11's crew consisted of Commander Neil Alden Armstrong, Command 
        Module Pilot Michael Collins, and Lunar Module Pilot Edwin Eugene 
        ``Buzz'' Aldrin, Jr.;
Whereas, on July 20, 1969, the Lunar Module ``Eagle'' landed on the surface of 
        the Moon, and Neil A. Armstrong took the first steps on the Moon and 
        remarked, ``That's one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for 
        mankind'';
Whereas the plaque affixed to the landing gear of the Eagle read: ``here men 
        from the planet earth first set foot upon the moon july 1969 a.d. we 
        came in peace for all mankind'';
Whereas the first lunar landing was viewed by millions of Americans on 
        television and countless others throughout the world;
Whereas Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin spent more than two hours 
        exploring the surface of the Moon performing and setting up experiments 
        to study solar wind composition, lunar seismic activity, lunar dust and 
        soil mechanics, and lunar field geology, among other things;
Whereas Apollo 11 astronauts returned the first samples from another planetary 
        body; these first samples were basalts, dark-colored igneous rocks, and 
        aged 3.7 billion years;
Whereas the science conducted by the Apollo missions provided scientists around 
        the world with new information about Earth's nearest neighbor, and its 
        discoveries included the following:

    (1) The Moon is not a primordial object. It is an evolved terrestrial 
planet with internal zoning similar to that of Earth. Before Apollo, the 
state of the Moon was a subject of almost unlimited speculation.

    (2) The Moon is made of rocky material that has been variously melted, 
erupted through volcanoes, and crushed by meteorite impacts.

    (3) The Moon is ancient and still preserves an early history (the first 
billion years) that must be common to all terrestrial planets. The 
extensive record of meteorite craters on the Moon, when calibrated using 
absolute ages of rock samples, provides a key for unraveling time scales 
for the geologic evolution of Mercury, Venus, and Mars based on their 
individual crater records. Before Apollo, the origin of lunar impact 
craters was not fully understood and the origin of similar craters on Earth 
was highly debated.

    (4) The youngest Moon rocks are virtually as old as the oldest Earth 
rocks. The earliest processes and events that probably affected both 
planetary bodies can now only be found on the Moon. Moon rock ages range 
from about 3.2 billion years in the maria (dark, low basins) to nearly 4.6 
billion years in the terrae (light, rugged highlands).

    (5) The Moon and Earth are related and formed from different 
proportions of a common reservoir of materials.

    (6) The Moon is lifeless; it contains no living organisms, fossils, or 
native organic compounds. Extensive testing revealed no evidence for life, 
past or present, among the lunar samples; even nonbiological organic 
compounds are amazingly absent. Traces can be attributed to contamination 
by meteorites.

    (7) All Moon rocks originated through high-temperature processes with 
little or no involvement with water. They are roughly divisible into three 
types: basalts, anorthosites, and breccias.

    (8) Early in its history, the Moon was melted to great depths to form a 
``magma ocean''. The lunar highlands contain the remnants of early, low-
density rocks that floated to the surface of the magma ocean. The lunar 
highlands were formed about 4.4 to 4.6 billion years ago by flotation of an 
early, feldspar-rich crust on a magma ocean that covered the Moon to a 
depth of many tens of kilometers or more.

    (9) The lunar magma ocean was followed by a series of huge asteroid 
impacts that created basins which were later filled by lava flows. The 
large, dark basins such as Mare Imbrium are gigantic impact craters, formed 
early in lunar history, that were later filled by lava flows about 3.2 to 
3.9 billion years ago. Lunar volcanism occurred mostly as lava floods that 
spread horizontally. Volcanic fire fountains produced deposits of orange 
and emerald-green glass beads.

    (10) The Moon is slightly asymmetrical in bulk form, possibly as a 
consequence of its evolution under Earth's gravitational influence. Its 
crust is thicker on the far side, while most volcanic basins--and unusual 
mass concentrations--occur on the near side.

    (11) The surface of the Moon is covered by a rubble pile of rock 
fragments and dust, called the lunar regolith, that contains a unique 
radiation history of the Sun, which is of importance to understanding 
climate changes on Earth;

Whereas, beyond their scientific achievements, the Apollo missions also afforded 
        all the peoples of the world an unprecedented opportunity to see their 
        home planet as a fragile abode of life in the cosmos, contributing to 
        the development of the ecology movement;
Whereas NASA's rich history of human flight into space continues today with the 
        Constellation Program, which will return American astronauts to the Moon 
        in 2020;
Whereas Constellation represents the next generation of United States human 
        space flight systems, and the continuation of a strategic national 
        capability;
Whereas these new expeditions will build upon the science and technology of the 
        Apollo Program and NASA's pioneering work in space in the decades since, 
        enabling future explorers to stay on the lunar surface for longer than 
        was possible in the 1960s and 1970s;
Whereas lessons learned by these men and women will continue to expand our 
        knowledge of the Moon and the solar system, and inform the development 
        of technologies and techniques Americans will use in furthering the 
        reach of humans beyond the Earth-Moon system;
Whereas, on September 19, 1961, Houston was chosen by NASA as the site for its 
        Manned Spacecraft Center;
Whereas beginning with the Gemini 4 mission in 1965 and continuing with 
        subsequent missions throughout the 1960s and 1970s, the Manned 
        Spacecraft Center in Houston was central to the operations of human 
        flights to space;
Whereas the Manned Spacecraft Center played a key role in the Apollo Program, 
        providing Mission Control for the flights as well as intensive training 
        for the astronauts, and engineering development activities that pushed 
        the boundary of the state of the art;
Whereas the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston, Texas, was renamed Johnson 
        Space Center in 1973 and has continued to be the operations center of 
        the human space flight program through the Skylab, Apollo-Soyuz, Space 
        Shuttle, and International Space Station programs;
Whereas Johnson Space Center's foundation remains its people--their talent, 
        vision, and dedication--and the integrated organizational framework 
        composed of the engineers, program managers, astronauts, flight 
        controllers, flight surgeons, and scientists;
Whereas in July 1962 NASA established its Launch Operations Center on Florida's 
        east coast, and renamed it in late 1963 to honor the President who put 
        America on the path to the Moon;
Whereas NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center has helped set the stage for 
        America's adventure in space for more than four decades, serving as the 
        point of departure for American human space missions and hundreds of 
        advanced scientific spacecraft;
Whereas from the early days of Project Mercury to the Space Shuttle and 
        International Space Station, from the Hubble Space Telescope to the Mars 
        Exploration Rovers, the Center enjoys a rich heritage in its vital role 
        as NASA's processing and launch center;
Whereas, since its beginning in 1960, Marshall Space Flight Center in 
        Huntsville, Alabama, has provided NASA with mission-critical design, 
        development, and integration of the launch and space systems required 
        for space operations, exploration, and scientific missions;
Whereas Marshall's legacy in rocket science includes providing the rockets for 
        the Apollo Program, developing the Space Shuttle's propulsion system, 
        and managing the development of Skylab, Spacelab, International Space 
        Station nodes, the Hubble Space Telescope, the Chandra X-ray 
        Observatory, and many scientific instruments;
Whereas Dr. Wernher von Braun, the first director of NASA's Marshall Space 
        Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, and his team of rocket scientists 
        designed the mammoth Saturn V rocket that launched humans to the Moon;
Whereas NASA's Mississippi Test Operations site was established to test the 
        engines for the Apollo Program;
Whereas the facility was renamed in 1988 for Mississippi's Senator John C. 
        Stennis, and is now the Nation's largest rocket engine testing facility;
Whereas Stennis Space Center tests all the main engines for the Space Shuttle 
        and will test the engines for NASA's Constellation Program;
Whereas NASA's greatest asset will continue to be its people, the thousands of 
        individuals across the country in both government and industry who 
        conceive, design, build, operate, and manage an ambitious program of 
        space exploration on behalf of the Nation;
Whereas this workforce includes about 13,000 employees at the Kennedy Space 
        Center, over 15,000 at the Johnson Space Center, over 1,600 at the 
        Stennis Space Center, and over 7,000 at Marshall Space Flight Center, 
        who make NASA's achievements possible, and contribute to both the local 
        economies of communities around their Centers and the national economy 
        as a whole;
Whereas NASA's human space flight teams are working to transition the Agency 
        from operating the Space Shuttle to expanding America's reach to the 
        Moon, Mars, and beyond; and
Whereas at the same time, the teams are operating and utilizing the 
        International Space Station, the first element of which was launched 
        into orbit more than ten years ago, so that America can learn what it 
        needs to know about long-duration space flight in order to make future 
        flights of exploration possible: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That Congress commemorates the 40th Anniversary of the first landing on 
the Moon.
                                 <all>