[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Pages 12489-12490]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                       TRIBUTE TO ABE SILVERSTEIN

 Mr. DeWINE. Mr. President, I rise today to recognize a man who 
employed his knowledge and vision to take America into Space. I am 
speaking of Cleveland resident, Abe Silverstein, who just passed away 
this month at 92 years of age, leaving a legacy of invention and 
innovation in the field of Space Flight.
  Abe Silverstein played a part in a number of ``space firsts,'' and 
received many prestigious honors for his work. In the company of 
Orville Wright, William Boeing, and Charles Lindbergh, Abe won the 
Guggenheim Award for the advancement of flight.
  Abe Silverstein designed, tested, and operated the world's first 
supersonic wind tunnel. It was the largest, fastest, and most powerful 
in the world. The research that was conducted with the tunnel allowed 
Abe to produce faster combat planes in World War II. This tunnel now 
resides in the NASA Glenn Space Research Facility in Cleveland, which 
Abe directed from 1961-1969.

[[Page 12490]]

  He was also the first director of NASA Space Flight Operations and 
worked on the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, and Centaur projects. The 
Centaur project involved the launching vehicles that propelled 
spacecraft to Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.
  Serving his country in World War II by producing new technology and 
helping his country achieve its goals in Space was not enough for Abe 
Silverstein. After retiring from NASA, Abe went on to work for Republic 
Steel Corporation, where he developed pollution controls to help keep 
our air cleaner for future generations.
  Abe Silverstein always was contributing to his country, whether it be 
through wind-tunnel research or in serving as a Trustee at Cleveland 
State University. He was a man of great personal virtue and strength of 
character. I am proud, Mr. President, to honor this man today, who his 
NASA colleagues once described as ``a man of vision and conviction, [a 
man who] contributed to the ultimate success of America's unmanned and 
human space programs . . . his innovative, pioneering spirit lives on 
in the work we do today.''
  I thank Mr. Silverstein for all his hard work and sacrifice, and I 
hope that my colleagues will join me in my gratitude.

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