[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 54 (Wednesday, March 28, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E663]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 TRIBUTE TO NASA ASTRONAUT STEVE HAWLEY

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. DENNIS MOORE

                               of kansas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 27, 2007

  Mr. MOORE of Kansas. Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a 
distinguished, courageous Kansan, NASA astronaut Steve Hawley, who will 
be inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame on May 5th.
  Steve Hawley, age 55, flew aboard the space shuttle Discovery during 
its maiden voyage in 1984 and is a veteran of four other shuttle 
missions. An accomplished astronomer, he helped deploy two of NASA's 
four Great Observatories, spacecraft that have shed unprecedented light 
on the origins and evolution of the universe. He flew aboard Columbia 
on a mission that landed just 10 days before the January 1986 
Challenger accident. He helped deploy the Hubble Space Telescope during 
a 1990 Discovery mission and then serviced NASA's flagship observatory 
during a 1997 Discovery flight. His final shuttle mission was a 1999 
Columbia flight during which the Chandra X-Ray Observatory was 
deployed. He now serves as director of NASA's Astromaterials Research 
and Exploration Science Directorate at the Johnson Space Center.
  Bom in Ottawa, Kansas, Dr. Hawley considers Salina, Kansas, to be his 
home town. He received a B.A. in physics and astronomy (with highest 
distinction) from the University of Kansas in 1973 and a Ph.D. in 
astronomy and astrophysics from the University of Califomia in 1977. 
His research involved spectrophotometry of gaseous nebulae and 
emission-like galaxies with particular emphasis on chemical abundance 
determinations for these objects. He was selected as a NASA astronaut 
in 1978.
  A veteran of five space flights, Dr. Hawley has logged a total of 32 
days in space. Closer to home, he has visited with student groups and 
community organizations in the Third Congressional District of Kansas 
on six occasions: in 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006. I look 
forward to his retum to my congressional district next month, on April 
11th. On behalf of the people of Kansas' Third Congressional District, 
I commend Steve Hawley on his upcoming induction into the U.S. 
Astronaut Hall of Fame, congratulate him on his five successful space 
shuttle missions, and thank him for the many hours he has spent making 
space exploration and space technology come alive for his audiences in 
my congressional district.

                          ____________________