78R4546 WMS-D

By:  Eissler                                                    H.C.R. No. 38 



CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
	WHEREAS, On February 1, 2003, the space shuttle Columbia and 
its entire crew of seven were lost in the skies over Texas, and this 
tragic event has brought shock and a profound sense of loss to all 
Americans and people the world over; and
	WHEREAS, Columbia's crew, commander Rick Husband, pilot 
William McCool, payload commander Michael Anderson, payload 
specialist Ilan Ramon, and mission specialists Laurel Clark, David 
Brown, and Kalpana Chawla hailed from across the United States, as 
well as Israel and India, but were united in their willingness to 
endure the dangers of spaceflight to expand mankind's scientific 
knowledge; and
	WHEREAS, Each crew member understood full well the joys of 
flight as were immortalized by John Gillespie Magee, Jr., in his 
poem High Flight:
	"Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth                                   
	And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;                               
	Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth                            
	Of sun-split clouds and done a hundred things                                  
	You have not dreamed of--wheeled and soared and swung                          
	High in the sunlit silence.  Hov'ring there,                                   
	I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung                                 
	My eager craft through footless halls of air.                                  
	Up, up, up the long, delirious burning blue                                    
	I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace                             
	Where never Lark, or even Eagle flew--                                         
	And while with silent lifting mind, I've trod                                  
	The high untrespassed sanctity of space,                                       
	Put out my hand and touched the face of God."; and                             
	WHEREAS, The process of exploring and comprehending the world 
around us has always been a driving force in human nature, and 
although often fraught with peril, the fulfillment of that desire 
continues to be among our most noble aspirations; and
	WHEREAS, America's space program has witnessed tragedy 
before with the deaths of three astronauts in the Apollo 1 fire of 
1967,  and in the 1986 Challenger explosion, which, like the loss of 
Columbia, claimed the lives of an entire shuttle crew; in spite of 
the nation's grief in the wake of these accidents, the United States 
has continued its efforts in this visionary exploration because 
abandoning them would not only limit our own potential for 
understanding the universe but would also mean turning our backs on 
the dreams of those who perished in the belief that man's reach, 
even into the hostile and seemingly limitless expanse of space, 
must always exceed his grasp; now, therefore, be it
	RESOLVED, That the 78th Legislature of the State of Texas 
hereby pay tribute to the lives of the crew of the space shuttle 
Columbia and extend sincere condolences to the members of their 
families and to the many people who mourn their loss around the 
globe; and, be it further
	RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be 
prepared for the members of their families and that when the Texas 
House of Representatives and Senate adjourn this day, they do so in 
memory of these heroic men and women, who gave their lives in 
service to mankind.