[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 11681]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     AMERICA'S GREATEST ACHIEVEMENT

  (Mr. OLSON asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. OLSON. Madam Speaker, yesterday marked the 42nd anniversary of 
our Nation's greatest achievement--putting an American on the moon.
  Today marks a different milestone with the last flight of the space 
shuttle. The space shuttle program has been the heartbeat of human 
spaceflight for the past 30 years. Today, we celebrate the shuttle 
fleet--Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavor--for 
their awe-inspiring records: 135 missions, over 5 million miles flown 
in orbit, construction of the international space station, repair of 
the Hubble telescope. The list goes on and on and on.
  We owe immense gratitude to those heroes on Challenger, Columbia, and 
their families who made the ultimate sacrifice for space exploration.
  Most of all, we recognize the best space industry team in the world 
for enabling our country to bear the honor of such incredible 
achievements. I am proud beyond words to represent the Johnson Space 
Center, the home of U.S. human spaceflight now and forever.
  May God bless America and remember this remarkable team.

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