Public Law 98–106

Joint Resolution

Commemorating the Twenty-fifth Anniversary of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Whereas the United States embarked on an urgent national effort to enter the space age which was inaugurated by adoption of the National

42 USC 2451 note.

Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958, whereby the National Aeronautics and Space Administration was created on October 1, 1958;

Whereas, on October 11, 1958, NASA launched into Earth-orbit its first automated satellite, Pioneer 1;

Whereas the first United States citizen was launched into suborbital space aboard his “Freedom 7” Mercury capsule on May 5, 1961;

Whereas, on February 20, 1962, the first United States citizen was launched into Earth-orbit aboard his “Friendship 7” Mercury capsule;

Whereas, subsequently, literally dozens of astronauts have been launched into Earth-orbit to perform useful work and research for periods lasting as long as three months at a time;

Whereas, on July 20, 1969, the Apollo 11 lunar module, “Eagle”, carried the first manned expedition to the surface of the Moon and, subsequently, five additional two-man crews would explore the lunar front side for science;

Whereas hundreds of unmanned satellites have scientifically explored near-Earth space, have mapped our planet’s resources, charted its weather and provided a technical base from which commercial exploitation of space has become a reality;

Whereas two-thirds of the planets in the solar system have been explored and observed in detail by increasingly complex generations of interplanetary craft;

Whereas the birth of the first reusable space transportation system was realized on April 12, 1981, with the successful launch, orbital operation and ground landing of the space shuttle Columbia;

Whereas, drawing upon its NACA heritage, the agency has continued to push forward the horizons of aeronautical research and development;

Whereas cooperative space projects with other nations of the World have greatly enhanced relations, communications, and understanding among the inhabitants of “Spaceship Earth”;

Whereas, for twenty-five years, NASA has vigorously pursued the charter set forth by Congress—to realize the potential, practical benefits to be gained from aeronautical and space research and development—which has placed the United States in a preeminent position worldwide to utilize this technology; and

Whereas the twenty-fifth Anniversary of the birth of NASA provides an opportunity to recognize the enormous achievements by that agency in aeronautics and space research and development, and in related fields of science and technology: Now, therefore, be it

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

Approved October 1, 1983.