[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 135 (Thursday, September 8, 2016)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1229]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                HONORING NASA'S LAUNCH OF THE OSIRIS-REX

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. RAUL M. GRIJALVA

                               of arizona

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 8, 2016

  Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of NASA's launch of 
the spacecraft OSIRIS-REx to the asteroid Bennu. I am extremely proud 
that Tucson is once again a key player in a critical NASA mission, as 
it was with the Mars Phoenix Lander mission a few years ago, and many 
others throughout our Nation's history.
  In a seven-year roundtrip mission, OSIRIS-REx will journey to an 
asteroid that NASA has classified as ``potentially hazardous'' to Earth 
to complete a survey and return with the largest sample of extra-
terrestrial material since the Apollo lunar missions. This program will 
yield insights into asteroid composition and how asteroids move in 
space. The most unique aspect of the OSIRIS-REx mission is the large 
and pristine sample that will be brought back to Earth, which will 
allow scientists to research the origins of our universe and galaxy and 
help us answer some of the most profound and fundamental questions that 
have intrigued mankind since our beginnings. We will be able to examine 
the composition of the asteroid using instruments and techniques that 
are far more advanced than those in space, including the potential for 
resources that could be mined from asteroids.
  The OSIRIS REx mission is funded by NASA and its science is led by 
the University of Arizona (UA). I would like to congratulate Dr. Dante 
Lauretta of the UA Lunar and Planetary Laboratory for his leadership as 
principal investigator and, along with his team, for bringing this 
exciting mission to the launch stage. I understand that Dante has been 
working on this concept for the last 15 years, and I greatly look 
forward to celebrating even more milestones with his team as the 
mission progresses.
  This mission is the latest in a long list of achievements by 
scientists at the University of Arizona in my home district. In fact, 
UA scientists have collaborated in every single American mission to the 
Moon and Mars since 1964, including serving as the lead on the Phoenix 
Mars Mission. I look forward to announcing the next big milestone in 
Aug. of 2018, when the spacecraft will rendezvous with the asteroid 
called ``Bennu'' to begin surveying it before taking a sample and 
returning to Earth by 2023. In the meantime, the University of Arizona 
will house mission control, as it did for the Phoenix Mars mission, 
continuing to involve undergraduate and graduate students in the 
research, which will help cultivate the next generation of STEM 
leaders--many of whom will be from my home state of Arizona.
  I wish the OSIRIS REx team the best of luck in their historic mission 
and congratulate them in their profound success.

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