[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 8]
[House]
[Pages 10386-10387]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               CELEBRATING THE JET PROPULSION LABORATORY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Schiff) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Speaker, during the past half century, from America's 
first satellite, the grapefruit-sized Explorer I, to the International 
Space Station now being built 200 miles above us, human beings have 
begun to learn how to operate in the harsh environs of space.
  America's space program operates on dual tracks. On the one hand, we 
have stressed human space flight, an inspiring, but dangerous 
undertaking. With the exception of the Apollo lunar landing missions, 
humans have not ventured beyond the low-earth orbit. The other track 
that we have followed is the robotic exploration of our solar system, 
using spacecraft that are more impervious to the harsh conditions of 
space and unaffected by the enormous distances necessary to explore our 
planetary neighbors.
  Our unmanned space probes, from the Ranger and Surveyor craft that 
paved the way for Apollo, to the Voyager spacecraft that explored the 
outer planets and are still continuing to send back data even as they 
leave the solar system, have increased our understanding of the 
universe beyond anything even contemplated half a century ago.
  On Mars, we have witnessed dust storms on Olympus Mons, the largest 
mountain in the solar system. We have peered through Venus's clouds and 
its broiling surface. We have discovered new moons and ring systems 
around outer planets. As I speak, a small spacecraft bearing dust from 
a comet is zooming back towards Earth and will parachute into Utah on 
January 15 of this coming year. A coffee table-sized probe named Deep 
Impact is scheduled to crash into another comet on July 4 of this year, 
a feat described to me recently by scientist Charles-Elachi as hitting 
a bullet with a bullet.
  NASA's jet propulsion laboratory managed by the California Institute 
of Technology has designed, built, or controlled all of these programs. 
JPL has been a pioneer of our exploration of the solar system from the 
beginning of our space program. Earlier, I mentioned JPL's Explorer I, 
America's first satellite. At the time that it was launched, the United 
States had fallen behind the Soviet Union in the space race, and 
several other attempts at getting an American Sputnik into orbit had 
ended in fiery explosions on the launch pad.
  Every American space probe that has visited another planet was 
managed by JPL. Through the wonders of technology, we have zoomed by 
Jupiter with Voyager, witnessed a Martian sunset with Viking, rolled 
across the surface of Mars with our rovers, and marveled at Saturn's 
rings with Cassini.
  Whom do we have to thank for unlocking the wonders of the solar 
system, for providing brilliant, three-dimensional images of the 
Martian surface, for bringing us the multi-hued clouds of Jupiter and 
the cold beauty of Saturn? For this, we must thank the women and men of 
the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. Under the 
leadership of Dr. Charles Elachi, the men and women of JPL work 
tirelessly to develop and manage America's robotic exploration of 
space.
  Last January, even as we still mourned the loss of the crew of 
Columbia and the consequential interruption of the Shuttle program, JPL 
brought America back to Mars. The Spirit rover and its twin, 
Opportunity, landed on Mars to begin what was planned as a 3-month 
mission to evaluate whether conditions would at one time have been 
suitable for life on that planet.
  Equipped with cameras, spectrometers and a grinder, America's robotic 
explorers have been hard at work for more than 16 months and are still 
going strong. Their discovery of evidence of past water on Mars last 
year was the top scientific ``Breakthrough of the Year,'' according to 
the journal ``Science.'' People around the world have been captivated 
by the stunning photographs of the Martian surface and the planet's 
ruddy sky. JPL's website is been visited more than 16 billion times; 
and, that is right, billion.
  Last July, Cassini arrived at Saturn to begin a multiyear exploration 
of the planet and its myriad moons. Cassini carried with it a small 
European-built probe that landed on Saturn's largest moon, Titan, 
earlier this year.
  JPL's spectacular missions have not only brought us incalculable 
scientific data, they have also sustained America's interest in space 
flight, especially the Mars missions. Now, as NASA prepares to 
accelerate the development of the Crew Exploration Vehicle and move 
forward with the return of humans to the moon, the space agency and 
Congress must take care to continue to provide adequate resources to 
support the robotic exploration of space that is JPL's specialty. In 
the short term, JPL is in danger of being a victim of its own success 
as the continued operation of Spirit and Opportunity have put pressure 
on the budget for the overall exploration of Mars.
  Last year, the President announced a long-term goal of landing on 
Mars. This is an ambitious and worthy goal, but the technological and 
physiological challenges, not to mention the cost, means that it will 
be decades before an American walks on the Martian surface. In the 
interim, we have to keep interest in space high as we continue to 
explore the red planet and our other neighbors with relatively 
inexpensive probes that are better equipped than humans to survive the 
extreme hardship of long-duration space travel.
  Mr. Speaker, as we continue to contemplate the future of our space 
program, I urge NASA and my colleagues not to deprive JPL one of the 
crown jewels of the American science and technology program of adequate 
resources. For thousands of years, people have gazed into the heaven 
and wondered what was up there. Thanks to

[[Page 10387]]

NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, we are beginning to learn the 
answers to that age-old question.

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