[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 8]
[House]
[Pages 11425-11426]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 MARKING THE OCCASION OF THE ``NEW HORIZONS'' SPACECRAFT REACHING PLUTO

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Massachusetts (Mr. Neal) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. NEAL. Mr. Speaker, I rise this morning to mark the occasion of 
the New Horizons spacecraft reaching Pluto.
  New Horizons launched on January 19, 2006, and since 2007, has been 
traveling steadily at 30,000 miles per hour. This morning, at 
approximately 7:49:57 a.m., the New Horizons spacecraft rendezvoused 
with Pluto, three billion miles away from Earth. Having just passed 
Pluto this morning, New Horizons will continue on in the Kuiper belt.
  Standing here as the spacecraft just passed Pluto, I take great pride 
in noting that a Massachusetts astronomer helped in the discovery of 
its existence. While Clyde Tombaugh formally discovered Pluto, it was 
Boston astronomer Percival Lowell's calculations that led the way. The 
P and the L that make the astronomical symbol for Pluto serve as a 
testament to Lowell's part in the discovery of this small planet.
  Lowell's contribution to astronomy also stands today with the 
establishment of the Lowell Observatory located in Flagstaff, Arizona. 
Percival Lowell inspired countless generations with his advocacy of 
astronomy, and more than 80,000 visitors each year go through the doors 
of the observatory.
  I am certainly proud to have known Lowell's descendants, the Putnam 
family, for years; and I admire their continued advocacy of the Lowell 
Observatory.

                              {time}  1015

  New Horizons is the first in the ``New Frontiers'' series, inspired 
by another son of Massachusetts, President John Kennedy, who said about 
the need to explore space: ``We set sail on this new sea because there 
is a new knowledge to be gained, new rights to be won, and they must be 
won and used for the progress of all people.''
  President Kennedy's support of our Nation's first space program set 
us on course for hope and optimism for our future.
  New Horizons' accomplishment this morning, along with other 
initiatives such as the International Space Station, which I am very 
proud to say that I supported and recall that in this institution, the 
space station survived by one vote at a precarious time in our history. 
It serves today as a strong reminder of the continued importance of 
space exploration and the very smart people that are drawn to this 
initiative.
  I also want to close by saying that I would hope that we might remind 
ourselves of the optimism of the Kennedy years and the space 
exploration program which Kennedy highlighted and helped to inaugurate 
but which he never got to see many of the benefits of, a sentiment that 
all Members of Congress should grasp, and that is that the candidate 
who offers the best sense of optimism for the future is generally the 
candidate that prevails. During the course of a campaign when one makes 
arguments on behalf of a particular initiative, we are also to 
understand that it is part of forming a government. So optimism becomes 
infectious in our political system when embraced properly.
  I hope today, as we celebrate this remarkable achievement of New 
Horizons and just the thought that that spacecraft travels at 30,000 
miles per hour and the fact, at 3 billion miles from Earth, America's 
science, achievement, and initiative have once again prevailed in this 
world, that we will continue to support these space initiatives and 
embrace the notion and the role that science plays in our lives.

[[Page 11426]]

  Thank you Percival Lowell, and thank you President John Kennedy.

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