[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 137 (Wednesday, September 6, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S12678]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                                 JAWSAT

  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I want to bring special attention to a 
cooperative satellite development program between the U.S. Air Force 
Academy and Weber State University located in Ogden, UT. Both 
institutions, I hasten to emphasize, Mr. President, specialize in 
undergraduate teaching and undergraduate research.
  The Joint Air Force Academy-Weber State Program is known as 
``JAWSAT.'' The Air Force Academy satellite will be built by Weber 
State, which is the first undergraduate institution in the world to 
design, build, and launch satellites. Weber State began building 
satellites in 1990, and has launched them in low-earth orbits. The 
WEBERSAT is the product of the Weber State University Center for 
aerospace technology. The satellite continues to orbit Earth, providing 
invaluable learning experiences for the student managers at Weber 
State. Currently, WEBERSAT provides the students at the campus command 
center with such benefits as color photographs of the Earth, data 
acquired by a high spectrometer on the satellite, and information on 
micrometeor impacts that is derived from sensor equipment also aboard 
WEBERSAT.
  It was a natural choice for the Air Force Academy to tap into Weber 
State's expertise for building and deploying a satellite to train our 
future Air Force leaders in satellite use and management. We, in this 
body, in the midst of a debate on Defense authorizations and 
appropriations, recognize the critical importance of satellite 
technology in defense systems employment. I especially commend both 
Houses of Congress for supporting JAWSATS.
  Mr. President, this program is an example of the new directions that 
our universities are taking in bringing undergraduate training, 
education, and research to the highest possible levels of achievement. 
I thank my colleagues for their support of JAWSAT.


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