[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 240 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 240

 Recognizing the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and its 
  partners for the success of the historic flyby of Pluto by the New 
                          Horizons spacecraft.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             August 3, 2015

  Mr. Markey (for himself, Ms. Mikulski, Mr. Nelson, Mr. Gardner, Mr. 
Peters, Mr. Cardin, and Mr. Bennet) submitted the following resolution; 
     which was referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
                             Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Recognizing the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and its 
  partners for the success of the historic flyby of Pluto by the New 
                          Horizons spacecraft.

Whereas, in 1930, from the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, Clyde 
        Tombaugh discovered Pluto, the ninth largest known body orbiting the 
        sun;
Whereas, on January 19, 2006, the New Horizons spacecraft launched on an Atlas V 
        launch vehicle from the Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air 
        Force Station in Florida;
Whereas, on July 14, 2015, after a 9\1/2\-year journey, the New Horizons probe 
        successfully flew within approximately 7,800 miles (12,500 kilometers) 
        of the surface of the dwarf planet Pluto;
Whereas the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (referred to in this 
        preamble as ``NASA'') has now completed missions to each of the 9 
        largest planetary bodies orbiting the sun;
Whereas the successful New Horizons mission to Pluto was achieved through years 
        of planning, research, design, testing, and mission operations conducted 
        by the dedicated scientists, engineers, and staff at NASA and affiliated 
        academic and private sector partners;
Whereas the New Horizons mission was the first mission to study Pluto, the moons 
        of Pluto, and other planetary building blocks within the Kuiper Belt, 
        which is the ring of icy objects that surrounds the solar system beyond 
        the orbit of Neptune;
Whereas the findings of the New Horizons interplanetary space probe have 
        demonstrated the great scientific value of the continued exploration of 
        Pluto and the outer-region of our solar system;
Whereas New Horizons is the first mission to collect high-resolution images and 
        a variety of other data about the geological and atmospheric composition 
        of Pluto as well as the space environment near Pluto and the moons of 
        Pluto;
Whereas the initial images and data returned from the New Horizons spacecraft 
        have already led to new discoveries about Pluto, the moons of Pluto, and 
        the space environment near Pluto;
Whereas images of Pluto show ice mountains that have never been seen before and 
        that are comparable in height to the Rocky Mountains;
Whereas images of Charon, the largest moon of Pluto, show deep canyons and a row 
        of cliffs and troughs stretching 600 miles wide;
Whereas images of Pluto and Charon show a lack of impact craters, suggesting 
        that their relatively young surfaces have been reshaped by internal 
        geological activity;
Whereas the data collected by instruments on the New Horizons spacecraft 
        confirms that the Pluto system contains a large amount of frozen water, 
        which is considered an essential building block of life;
Whereas the data collected by the New Horizons spacecraft will continue to 
        provide scientific insight, data to train the next generation of 
        planetary scientists, and inspiration to humanity for years to come; and
Whereas the New Horizons spacecraft could continue traveling to the far edges of 
        our solar system and could be capable of exploring the Kuiper Belt and 
        collecting data on our solar system that is not detectable from any 
        other spacecraft or telescope due to its unique position, 
        instrumentation, and long-lasting power supply: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) congratulates the National Aeronautics and Space 
        Administration (referred to in this resolving clause as 
        ``NASA''), the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics 
        Laboratory in Maryland, the Southwest Research Institute in 
        Colorado, and the academic and private sector partners of the 
        New Horizons mission for their roles in the historic flyby of 
        Pluto by the New Horizons spacecraft;
            (2) recognizes the importance of the New Horizons mission 
        to the long-term exploration of the solar system by NASA and 
        the training of the next generation of planetary scientists;
            (3) recognizes the importance of the continued pursuit of 
        robotic space exploration missions by NASA, which enable 
        extraordinary scientific discoveries about the nature and 
        origin of our solar system and beyond; and
            (4) recognizes the significance of the scientific and 
        engineering research by NASA with respect to stimulating 
        economic growth, strengthening national competitiveness, and 
        inspiring humankind.
                                 <all>