| |
| |
|
|
R E S O L U T I O N
|
|
|
WHEREAS, On the morning of February 1, 2003, the NASA space |
|
|
shuttle Columbia broke apart in the skies over Texas, taking the |
|
|
lives of its entire crew; the 10th anniversary of that tragedy |
|
|
provides a fitting occasion to pay tribute to those seven |
|
|
astronauts and to reflect on their heroism and sacrifice; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Hailing from across the nation and around the world, |
|
|
the crew of the STS-107 mission exemplified the highest ideals of |
|
|
the astronaut corps; crew commander Rick D. Husband was a native of |
|
|
Amarillo and a U.S. Air Force colonel with more than 3,800 hours of |
|
|
flight time in over 40 different types of aircraft; he had |
|
|
previously served as pilot on the STS-96 Discovery mission, when |
|
|
the first docking with the International Space Station was |
|
|
accomplished; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Pilot William McCool was a graduate of Coronado High |
|
|
School in Lubbock and the son of a Marine and naval aviator; he |
|
|
followed in his father's footsteps by becoming a pilot in the U.S. |
|
|
Navy; payload commander Michael P. Anderson, a lieutenant colonel |
|
|
in the U.S. Air Force, had flown on the space shuttle Endeavour with |
|
|
the STS-89 mission; born in Karnal, India, mission specialist |
|
|
Kalpana Chawla held a doctorate in aerospace engineering and had |
|
|
earlier served aboard Columbia on the STS-87 mission; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Mission specialist David M. Brown was a captain in |
|
|
the U.S. Navy, a physician, and a fighter pilot; U.S. Navy captain |
|
|
Laurel B. Clark was a mission specialist with previous experience |
|
|
as a submarine medical officer and as a flight surgeon; payload |
|
|
specialist Ilan Ramon was a colonel in the Israeli Air Force, where |
|
|
he had excelled in his duties as a fighter pilot and squadron |
|
|
commander; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, This team of extraordinarily gifted men and women |
|
|
made invaluable contributions to science, engineering, and the |
|
|
history of spaceflight while furthering the tradition of |
|
|
international cooperation that was a hallmark of the shuttle |
|
|
program; through their courageous endeavors, they earned a place |
|
|
among the great explorers of history, individuals who sought, in |
|
|
the words of the poet Alfred Tennyson, "to strive, to seek, to find, |
|
|
and not to yield"; now, therefore, be it |
|
|
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 83rd Texas |
|
|
Legislature hereby commemorate the 10th anniversary of the STS-107 |
|
|
Columbia mission and pay tribute to the memory of its valiant crew. |