[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 134 (Tuesday, October 24, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1893]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     AIR FORCE RESEARCH LABORATORY

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. WILLIAM M. THOMAS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, October 24, 2000

  Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, on November 14th the American Institute of 
Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) will award Air Force Research 
Laboratory Rocket Site facilities at Edwards Air Force Base a historic 
aerospace site designation. The AIAA is absolutely right: the Research 
Lab truly is one of the nation's most important aerospace facilities 
and it does have a rich history of service to the nation.
  The significance of the role the Air Force Research Laboratory has 
played in our defense and conquest of space is illustrated by the other 
places the AIAA will name historic sites this year. The AIAA is naming 
Tranquility Base on the Moon, where Americans first touched down, as an 
historic site. Similarly, they are honoring Dutch Flats Airport, where 
Lindbergh tested the Spirit of St. Louis, the original Aerojet 
Engineering Company plant in Pasadena and the Massachusetts farm where 
Dr. Robert Goddard tested the first liquid propellant rocket in 1926, 
as historic sites. Including the Research Laboratory in this group 
shows the value knowledgeable people place on the Air Force Research 
Laboratory's over 50 years of research, testing and development.
  A brief review of the work that has been done and is being done at 
the Research Laboratory makes it easy to understand why the AIAA 
regards the Research Laboratory as important. Nearly every U.S. rocket 
system used today uses technology based on the Air Force Research 
Laboratory's work. The laboratory has tested and developed rocket 
propulsion technologies for defense and space systems. The Saturn 
rockets that powered America's Apollo flights were tested there. There 
are unique facilities for continuously testing space satellite 
propulsion thrusters for up to 7 hours and immense rocket stands that 
are still valuable research and testing tools. In fact, Research 
Laboratory personnel are now working on new technologies in 
coordination with industry and other government agencies through the 
Integrated High Payoff Rocket Propulsion Technology program.
  For over half a century, a quiet, dedicated group of people have 
joined together on a remote part of Edwards Air Force Base to pioneer 
the concepts that have made modern space flight and defense 
technologies possible. AIAA's recognition is one we should all agree 
with and one in which Air Force Research Laboratory personnel past and 
present can take just pride.

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