MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2015 Regular Session
To: Rules
By: Senator(s) Moran, Gollott, Burton, Butler (38th), Chassaniol, Fillingane, Jackson (11th), Jackson (32nd), Lee, Norwood, Parker, Simmons (12th), Stone, Watson
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION WELCOMING FORMER NASA APOLLO ASTRONAUT FRED WALLACE HAISE, JR., TO HIS NATIVE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI ON THE OCCASION OF THE PARTNERS FOR STENNIS SPACE CENTER CAPITOL DAY.
WHEREAS, on March 18, 2015, the Partners for Stennis will present the Stennis Space Center Capitol Day event in honor of former NASA Apollo Astronaut Fred Wallace Haise, Jr., a native Mississippian; and
WHEREAS, Partners for Stennis is a volunteer group who advocate for space, earth and ocean exploration. Its members are from regional Chambers of Commerce, economic development foundations, businesses, educational institutions, local governments, community groups and individual citizens who desire to encourage development of the NASA-Stennis Space Center, a unique federal and commercial city that is home to more than 30 federal, state, academic and private organizations and numerous technology-based companies. For more than four decades, Stennis has served as America's largest rocket test complex. Located in Hancock County, Mississippi, on the Louisiana border, the workforce of 4,500 civil servants, contractors, scientists and engineers provide a significant source of employment and income in the two-state region; and
WHEREAS, Fred Haise, Jr., former Apollo 13 Lunar Module Pilot, is our special guest. Haise is a Biloxi High School graduate and MGCCC alumnus. He was a STEM major in college, graduating with honors in aeronautical engineering from the University of Oklahoma. He completed post-graduate courses at the United States Air Force Aerospace Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base in 1984 and Harvard Business School in 1972. He underwent naval aviator training from 1952 to 1954 and served as a Marine Corps Fighter Pilot at MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina, from March 1954 to September 1956; and
WHEREAS, on April 11, 1970, he became one of only 24 people to have ever flown to the moon. He would have been the sixth human to land and walk on the moon but the mission was aborted due to spacecraft failure. Due to the free return trajectory on this mission, Haise, along with Jim Lovell and Jack Swigert, the other two astronauts on Apollo 13, likely holds the record for the furthest distance from the Earth ever traveled by human beings. He went on to fly the Space Shuttle Approach and Landing tests before retiring from NASA in 1979. After that, he became a Test Pilot and Executive with Grumman Aerospace Corporation, where he remained until retiring in 1996. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1970, the NASA Distinguished Service Medal and is in the Astronaut Hall of Fame; and
WHEREAS, the Stennis facility has been responsible for testing all of the engines used in manned Apollo flights and in space shuttle missions. It currently has a vibrant role in testing the next generation of rocket engines to be used in America's space program. NASA's progress toward a return to deep space missions continues with a new round of upcoming tests on the next—generation J—2X rocket engine, which will help power the agency's Space Launch System (SLS) to new destinations in the solar system; and
WHEREAS, it is with great pride that we recognize the historic background of a famous Mississippian and the contributions of the Stennis Space Center to the economy of the State of Mississippi:
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING THEREIN, That we do hereby welcome former NASA Apollo Astronaut Fred Wallace Haise, Jr., to his native State of Mississippi on the occasion of the Partners for Stennis Space Center Capitol Day, on March 18, 2015, and extend our best wishes to Fred and the administration and employees of the Stennis Space Center on this auspicious occasion.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this resolution be presented to Fred Haise and the Executive Director of the Stennis Space Center, and made available to the Capitol Press Corps.