[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 102 (Friday, July 28, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1587]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    TRIBUTE TO NASA MISSION STS-121

                                 ______
                                 

                              HON. TED POE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, July 28, 2006

  Mr. POE. Mr. Speaker, we have all suffered setbacks in our lives. For 
most of us, millions of people are not watching as monumental tragedy 
unfolds in a matter of seconds.
  This was the case for family and friends of the astronauts who 
tragically died in the Columbia Shuttle disaster in 2003. In that 
instant, the folks at NASA lost their friends and coworkers in the 
Space Shuttle Columbia tragedy. It was a moment they will never forget. 
It was a moment that has created great sorrow and an intense pressure 
for perfect missions.
  NASA employees, have vowed to use hard work and determination, to 
never again make the same mistakes. It is with that determination that 
they completed their second journey into space after Columbia, and it 
was a perfect mission.
  Today I congratulate all seven members of the STS-121 mission, and 
the countless men and women who supported them throughout their 
successful 13-day, five million-mile journey. This second successful 
space mission since the Columbia tragedy, marks the new standard of 
success NASA has resolved to meet and exceed.
  The Commander of STS-121, Col. Steve Lindsey was also mission 
commander on a space flight in 2001. He flew as pilot on 2 previous 
shuttle missions, and he has logged more than 1,000 hours in space. A 
graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, and the Air Force Institute of 
Technology he has been the recipient of many awards and medals, 
including the Distinguished Flying Cross, three NASA Space Flight 
Medals, the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal, and the NASA Exceptional 
Service Medal. He and his wife Diane have three children.
  Pilot Mark Kelly has logged 12 days in space. His dream to become an 
astronaut started with Alan Shepard, the first American to fly into 
space. A graduate of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, he flew 39 
combat missions in Operation Desert Storm. He has logged over 4,000 
flight hours in more than 50 different aircraft and has served as a 
pilot on STS-108. With this latest mission, he has logged almost 25 
days in space. He is also the father of two children.
  Mission Specialist Michael Fossum, wasn't always an astronaut. Before 
riding into the heavens he was a NASA Systems Engineer, charged with 
evaluating the use of the Russian Soyuz spacecraft as a 
viable emergency escape vehicle for the space station. He also 
represented the Flight Crew Operations Directorate during the redesign 
of the International Space Station. Once a Capsule Communicator, 
CAPCOM, in Mission Control, Fossum was able to log more than 306 hours 
in space during STS-121. He and his wife Melanie have four children.

  Mission Specialist Lisa Nowak, a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, 
made her first space flight on STS-121. She also logged 13 days of 
space flight time. A former Mission Commander and EW Lead of the 
Electronic Warfare Aggressor Squadron 34, she also worked in the 
Astronaut Office Robotics Branch and in NASA Mission Control as prime 
communicator with on-orbit crews. She and her husband have three 
children.
  A Harvard graduate, Stephanie Wilson served as an astronaut on STS-
121, her first mission into space. She has completed extensive research 
on controlling and modeling large, flexible space structures. She has 
worked for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, and 
was a member of the Attitude and Articulation Control Subsystem for the 
Galileo spacecraft. After working in Mission Control Wilson worked in 
the Astronaut Office Shuttle Operations Branch, with the Space Shuttle 
Main Engines, External Tank and Solid Rocket Boosters.
  Mission Specialist Piers Sellers is an expert on how the Earth's 
biosphere and atmosphere interact. His studies have included computer 
modeling of the climate system, satellite remote sensing studies and 
climatological field work coordinating aircraft, satellites and ground 
teams across the world. Sellers also worked part time in Moscow as a 
technical liaison on ISS computer software. This is his second mission 
and he has logged more than 559 hours in space, and 6 spacewalks. He 
and his wife have two children.
  Finally, Mission Specialist Thomas Reiter, of Germany is the only 
astronaut to stay in space during STS-121. He will live aboard the 
International Space Station and return to Earth aboard Shuttle mission 
STS-116 or a Russian Soyuz in a few months. He has trained as a 
cosmonaut and was also involved in European Space Agency, ESA, studies 
of manned space vehicles and the development of equipment for the 
International Space Station. He and Russian colleagues were on the crew 
of ESA-Russian Euromir 95 mission to the Mir Space Station. Reiter was 
the on-board engineer for the record-breaking 179-day mission. He 
performed some 40 European scientific experiments and performed two 
spacewalks. He and his wife have two sons.

  Each astronaut on this mission and the countless people who supported 
them accomplished great tasks, to help our space program move forward, 
in characteristic giant steps.
  NASA equipped this shuttle with more cameras to improve views and 
data from all angles of the shuttle during and after launch. Piers 
Sellers and Mike Fossum performed spacewalks to test equipment, remove 
and replace power, command and data cables on International Space 
Station equipment. They also tested techniques for inspecting and 
repairing the Shuttle mid-flight while also successfully transferring 
14 tons of equipment to the ISS.
  Mr. Speaker today I congratulate the NASA space program for enduring 
great tragedy, and turning it into a monumental success, again. They 
are doing what we all hope to have the strength and power to do during 
times of great adversity, they are facing the challenge and then 
conquering it.
  I wish everyone involved in our space program the very best as they 
embark on future missions which will no doubt, continue to change our 
country for the better. That's Just the Way It Is.

                          ____________________