Public Law 97–237

Joint Resolution

Concerning the successful completion of the test flight phase of the Space Shuttle program.

Whereas when the Space Shuttle Columbia flew through a blazing re-entry and skimmed to a perfect landing on the 4th of July 1982, at Edwards Air Force Base, California, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration successfully completed the test flight phase of the Space Shuttle program and began a new era of operational Space Shuttle missions; and

Whereas in four test missions, the Space Shuttle Columbia, a reusable spaceship designed to provide routine space travel for a wide variety of scientific, commercial, and military payloads at reduced costs and with a high reliability of success, lived up to its promise as the most advanced spacecraft in the world; and

Whereas in four test missions, the Columbia was lifted from Earth, orbited in the vacuum of space like a satellite, operated a variety of scientific experiments, tested the capability of the remote manipulator system to deploy satellites in orbit and to retrieve satellites, descended into the Earth’s atmosphere, was piloted by astronauts like a conventional winged airplane, and was landed at Edwards Air Force Base, California, and at White Sands missile range, New Mexico; and

Whereas the Space Shuttle Columbia, the newly completed Space Shuttle Challenger, and the sister Shuttles Discovery and Atlantis, now under construction, will be able to fly repeatedly back and forth from space as an operational space transportation system; and

Whereas the Space Shuttle orbiters will accommodate an unprecedented variety of payloads including a fully equipped scientific laboratory (Spacelab) provided by the European space agency, underscoring the commitment of the United States to international cooperation in space activities; and

Whereas using the unique qualities of the space environment (weightlessness and a near perfect vacuum) the Space Shuttle orbiters will be used for experiments to produce special alloys, metals, glasses, crystals, and pharmaceuticals that cannot be performed on Earth; and

Whereas the Space Shuttle orbiters will place in orbit satellites to observe the Earth’s weather, provide improved communications, discover new mineral resources, monitor crop and timber yields, help United States forces to navigate, and monitor arms control agreements; and

Whereas the Space Shuttle orbiters will also place in orbit the most powerful space telescope and will launch scientific probes to explore the planets; and

Whereas the Space Shuttle program is a national enterprise, geographically and technologically, requiring tens of thousands of skilled workers to design, develop, test and evaluate the various Space Shuttle components; and

Whereas the Space Shuttle program has been judged by independent research organizations to have a positive effect on the national economy, creating jobs, reducing inflationary pressures, and forwarding the development of advanced technologies; and

Whereas the Space Shuttle program is a source of great national pride and the United States now holds world leadership in its proven ability to operate a reusable Space Shuttle: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

Approved August 20, 1982.