[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 104 (Thursday, June 20, 2019)]
[House]
[Page H4924]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   COMMEMORATING OKLAHOMANS IN SPACE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Ms. Lee of California). The Chair recognizes 
the gentlewoman from Oklahoma (Ms. Kendra S. Horn) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. KENDRA S. HORN of Oklahoma. Madam Speaker, I rise today to talk 
about Oklahomans in space.
  Born in Oklahoma's Fifth Congressional District in Shawnee, retired 
Air Force Colonel Gordon Cooper was one of the first Mercury 
astronauts. In 1962, he served as a backup for the Sigma 7 mission. A 
year later, he circled Earth 22 times in the space capsule Faith 7, 
completing the sixth and last of the Mercury manned spaceflights.
  He also served as a command pilot of Gemini 5 on an 8-day endurance 
mission. This not only made him the first person to make two orbital 
flights, but he also set an endurance record on this mission of nearly 
191 hours.
  Before becoming an astronaut with NASA, Colonel Cooper earned a 
commission with the U.S. Army in the late 1940s and then transferred to 
the Air Force where he received a bachelor of science degree in 
aeronautics from the Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-
Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio.
  If you visit the National Portrait Gallery in D.C., you will see a 
picture of Colonel Cooper as one of NASA's Mercury Seven astronauts. I 
am proud to honor his memory, legacy, and history-making achievements 
in space.
  Madam Speaker, women astronauts from Oklahoma have also made critical 
contributions to our Nation's space program. Jerrie Cobb and Shannon 
Lucid are two of those pioneers who paved the way in space and 
aeronautics.
  Cobb is considered one of the most gifted female pilots in history 
and a fierce advocate for women astronauts. Born in Norman, Oklahoma, 
and a graduate from Oklahoma City's Classen High School, Cobb became 
the first woman to fly in the Paris Air Show and was among the first 
women certified to be an astronaut as a member of the little-known 
Mercury 13 in the early 1960s. She testified before Congress in 1962, 
urging lawmakers to allow women to go into space.

                              {time}  0930

  Though she never got to leave the Earth's atmosphere, Cobb helped 
pave the way for future generations of women astronauts like fellow 
Oklahoman and astronaut, Dr. Shannon Lucid. I pause to honor the memory 
of Dr. Cobb today, as she passed away 3 months ago at the age of 88.
  Lady astronaut Dr. Shannon Lucid, a Congressional District Five 
resident, graduated from Bethany High School. Among the first six women 
astronauts selected by NASA, Dr. Lucid became an astronaut in 1979. Not 
only did she fly on five spaceflights, she is also the only American 
woman to serve aboard the Mir Space Station.
  Before Peggy Whitson broke the record of the number of hours in 
space, Dr. Lucid set the record with 5,354 hours in space. In December 
of 1996, she became the first woman to receive the Congressional Medal 
of Honor for her record-breaking service aboard the Mir, and she 
retired from NASA in 2012.
  Because of the glass ceiling shattered by Jerrie Cobb and Dr. Shannon 
Lucid, generations of women can and do now follow in their footsteps.

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