House Resolution 45

A RESOLUTION RECOGNIZING AND HONORING THE STENNIS SPACE CENTER SENIOR LEADERSHIP TEAM ON THE OCCASION OF STENNIS SPACE CENTER CAPITOL DAY ON FEBRUARY 29, 2024.

WHEREAS, the Stennis Space Center Capitol Day event in honor of the Stennis Space Center's Senior Leadership Team is on February 29, 2024; and

WHEREAS, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), America's civil space program and the global leader in space exploration, has 20 centers and facilities across the country, including its leading facility at the Stennis Space Center in Hancock County, Mississippi; and

WHEREAS, NASA studies Earth, including its climate, the sun, and the solar system and beyond, and they also conduct research, testing and development to advance aeronautics, including electric propulsion and supersonic flight; and

WHEREAS, additionally, NASA develops and funds space technologies that will enable future exploration and benefit life on Earth and leads a Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes working with United States industries, international partners and academia to develop new technology, and send science research, and soon, humans, to explore the Moon on Artemis, missions that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet; and

WHEREAS, Mark T. Vande Hei, NASA Astronaut and Retired U.S. Army Colonel, was selected by NASA in 2009, and was born in Virginia then raised in New Jersey and Minnesota; and

WHEREAS, he earned a bachelor of science degree in physics from Saint John's University and a master of science in applied physics from Stanford University, and he was commissioned in the United States Army through the ROTC program and served as a combat engineer; and

WHEREAS, in 1999, NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei became an assistant professor of physics at the United States Military Academy in West Point, and after extending the record for the longest single spaceflight in history by an American to 355 days, he returned to Earth in March 2022; and

WHEREAS, John Bailey, Jr., serves as Acting Center Director of NASA's Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, a position he has held since January 2024, and in that role, he provides executive leadership, overall direction and management of the center; and

WHEREAS, additionally, Mr. Bailey is responsible for implementing NASA's mission in rocket propulsion testing, and for developing and maintaining NASA's world-class rocket propulsion test facilities, and he also oversees a unique federal city that is home to as many as 40 federal, state, academic and private organizations, and numerous technology-based companies; and

WHEREAS, Kenneth Newton has served as the Acting Executive Director of the NASA Shared Services Center (NSSC) in Hancock County, Mississippi, since October 1, 2023, and he is responsible for all personnel, project management, contractor operations, service delivery, budget and the customer experience, and he serves as the Director of Service Delivery at the NASA Shared Services Center (NSSC); and

WHEREAS, Rodney McKellip serves as Associate Director of the NASA John C. Stennis Space Center, and with the Director, he provides leadership and coordinates NASA's rocket propulsion testing capabilities and SSC's roles in the agency's technology programs; and

WHEREAS, Mr. McKellip also manages a skilled workforce of more than 1,200 civil servant and contractor employees and the site's hosting of more than 40 other federal, state, academic and private technology organizations that employ an additional 4,000 employees; and

WHEREAS, it is the policy of the House of Representatives to recognize the remarkable NASA Stennis Space Center Senior Leadership Team and the tremendous contributions of the center to the economy of the State of Mississippi:

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, That we do hereby recognize and honor the Stennis Space Center Senior Leadership Team on the occasion of Stennis Space Center Capitol Day on February 29, 2024, and extend our best wishes to the Center's Leadership Team and employees on this auspicious occasion.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be furnished to each member of the Stennis Space Center Senior Leadership Team and to the members of the Capitol Press Corps.