[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Page 15675]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO ROY S. ESTESS

  Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, one of my State's finest Federal 
Government officials, Roy S. Estess, announced last week his retirement 
from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
  Mr. Estes had served as Director of the Stennis Space Center in 
Mississippi since January 20, 1989. He has been responsible for 
managing the center and overseeing the Center's role as the lead center 
for rocket propulsion testing and the lead center for implementing 
commercial remote sensing applications. Prior to becoming Director, he 
had been the Deputy Director of the Center for nine years. He had 
played a pivotal role in having the Mississippi Test Facility selected 
as the test site for the Space Shuttle main engine.
  Roy graduated from Mississippi State University with a degree in 
aerospace engineering, and he also completed the advanced management 
program at the Harvard Graduate Business School.
  Roy has held various engineering and management positions during his 
42 years of Government service. Thirty-seven of those years have been 
spent with NASA. His wide ranging experience with NASA included service 
as a special assistant in NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC, for two 
consecutive NASA Administrators. Roy also served temporarily as acting 
director of the Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX.
  Among the numerous awards and honors he has received over the years 
are: the Presidential Distinguished Service Award--twice--and 
Meritorious Senior Executive Award; NASA's Distinguished Exceptional 
Service, Equal Opportunity and Outstanding Leadership Medals; the 
National Distinguished Executive Service Award for Public Service; and 
Alumni Fellow of Mississippi State University; as well as Citizen of 
the Year in his home town of Tylertown, MS.
  We will truly miss having the benefit of the thoughtful, intelligent 
leadership of Roy Estess.
  He has been a great friend and a trusted source of good advice and 
counsel for me throughout my career.
  I commend Roy Estess on his truly outstanding career and I wish for 
him much satisfaction and happiness in the years ahead.

                          ____________________